FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Marcus Thomas and Russ Buller both picked up wins, as the eighth-ranked LSU men’s track and field team performed exceptionally well on the opening day of the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships at the Randall Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville.
The Tigers find themselves in second place after the first day of competition with 31 points, trailing host Arkansas, who came up with 17 points in the final event of the evening, the 3,000-meter run, to seize the lead and finish the day with 37.
At the same time, the No.1-ranked Lady Tigers advanced well in some areas, but did not in others and have made it difficult on themselves if they hope to win a third consecutive SEC Indoor title. The Lady Tigers are in eighth place after one day of competition, but only had one scoring opportunity. The bigger concern is not a lack of points on Saturday, but a lack of scoring opportunities on Sunday.
The Lady Tigers advanced about what they expected in the 60 and 200-meter dashes and the 60-meter hurdles, but struggled in both the 400-meter dash and the long jump.
Arkansas claimed five of the top six positions in the women’s 3,000-meter run and wound up with 45 points to lead after one day.
“We had a lot of people do some really great things today,” said Pat Henry. “We had a few people that didn’t do what we expected of them, but clearly, the positives outweighed the negatives today. The men in particular had a very good day.”
Thomas became the first Tiger to win the long jump since school record-holder Llewellyn Starks won the title in 1990 with a personal best jump of 26 feet 3 3/4 inches, more than a foot better than his previous best mark. In addition, he became only the second man in school history to jump over 26 feet indoors, joining Starks.
Thomas entered the meet ranked ninth in the SEC, but managed to surpass his previous best of 25-2 3/4 on each of his four legal marks. He had one foul which appeared to be slightly longer than his winning jump, then passed on his final attempt after his victory was already secure.
Thomas will attempt to add the triple jump title tomorrow. Her ranks fourth in the nation in the triple jump, but two of the three jumpers in front of him on the national list will be in the field tomorrow.
Buller became only the fourth man in SEC history to win five career pole vault titles, coming up with a season-best mark of 18-4 1/2. The title was his second straight indoor title, making him the first Tiger to win back-to-back SEC indoor titles in a field event since Eugene McCain won the long jump in 1980 and then again in 1981.
Buller entered the competition at 17-7 after every competitor was already out of the meet. He clamly cleared the height on his opening attempt to win the title. He then cleared 18-4 1/2 on his third attempt and moved the bar to 18-8 1/2 in an effort to break the meet record, but failed to clear the height.
Christian Nehme and Alex Forst opened the day for the Tigers, coming up big in the throws, finishing third and fourth respectively, giving LSU a much needed 11-point boost. Nehme came up with a throw of 57-7, while Forst threw a season-best 56-10 1/4.
Peta-Gaye Dowdie moved closer to a possible 60/200-meter double, easily winning her preliminary rounds in each event. Dowdie smoked the field in the 200, running the fastest qualifying time and increasing her national lead in the event with a blistering 23.27. Earlier in the day she won her preliminary round of the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.38 Also qualifying for Sunday’s 60-meter dash final was Sa’Donna Thornton, who finished second in her heat with a time of 7.42.
Jemia Ellis ran a time of 7.47, finishing behind Dowdie in the final preliminary heat. Ellis was part of a four-way tie for the final spot which went to Delilah Dillard of Alabama when broken down to the thousandth of a second.
The Lady Tigers advanced two hurdlers to tomorrows 60-meter hurdle final, as Joyce Bates easily won her heat in a time of 8.18, while April Sams claimed the final qualifying spot with a season best and NCAA provisional qualifying time of 8.43.
In the men’s hurdles Greg Scott was no as fortunate. After running a personal best time of 7.82 at the LSU Twilight last weekend, Scott finished third in his heat of the men’s 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.08. Scott ranked third in the SEC heading into the event.
1999 SEC Indoor 400-meter champion Derrick Brew began defense of his title in fine fashion Saturday, winning his heat in a time of 46.71. Brew will attempt to become the first Tiger to win back-to-back titles at the SEC Indoor meet on the track since Rohsaan Griffin won the 200-meter title in 1995 and again in 1996.
If he is to win his second straight title, however, he will have to contend with a loaded finals field that will include teammate Lueroy Colquhoun who ran the fastest qualifying time of the day, a personal best NCAA provisional time of 46.67.
In the women’s 400-meter dash, the Lady Tigers were dealt a serious blow when Claudine Williams failed to qualify for tomorrow’s final. Williams, the 1999 NCAA 800-meter champion, passed on her traditional half mile to compete in the 400, but ran a time of 55.84 and finished third in her heat.
Valma Bass did qualify for the 400-meter dash final, however, running a season-best time of 54.88, finishing sixth overall in the preliminary round.
Entering this weekend’s competition, the Lady Tigers boasted five of the top 10 long jumpers in the conference, but wound up with only one scoring in the event on Saturday.
Keisha Spencer, who ranked third among LSU’s long jumping corps, finished third with a jump of 20-5 3/4, but Monique Freeman and Bianca Rockett failed to advance to the final.
Chenelle Marshall and Myra Combs did not compete in the event.
LSU made its mark in the distance events, as well, as Frans Schimper advanced to the men’s mile final tomorrow, while Staci Cusimano was the final qualifier in the women’s mile.
The SEC Indoor Championships conclude tomorrow afternoon with 24 finals still to be contested.
SEC Indoor Championships
Day One Results
Men’s Results
Team Scores
1, Arkansas, 37. 2, LSU, 31. 3, Tennessee, 18. 4, Alabama, 17. 5 (tie) Ole Miss, Georgia and Florida, 12.50. 8, Kentucky, 7. 9, Auburn, 5. 10, South Carolina, 3 1/2.
Track Events
3,000-meter run- 1, Tim Broe, Alabama, 8:00.08. 2, Sharif Karie, Arkansas, 8:04.04. 3, Anthony Famiglietti,Tennessee, 8:04.34. 4, Murray Link, Arkansas,8:09.41. 5,Andrew Begley, Arkansas, 8:09.55. 6, Chris Mutai, Alabama, 8:15.59.
Field Events
Long Jump- 1, Marcus Thomas, LSU, 26-3 3/4. 2, Savante Stringfellow, Ole Miss, 26-3 1/2. 3, Maurice Lewis, Florida, 26-0 1/4. 4, Melvin Lister, 25-8 1/4. 5, Miguel Pate, Alabama, 25-8 1/4. 6, Camron Howard, Tennessee, 25-5 1/4.
Pole Vault- 1, Russ Buller, LSU, 18-4 1/2. 2 (tie), Rocky Danners, Tennessee, Christopher Daniel, Kentuky, 16-8 3/4. 4 (tie), Rob Little, Florida, Kyle Wallace, Ole Miss, 16-8 3/4. 6 (tie), Timo Makkonen, Georgia, Jared Farabee, South Carolina, 16-2 3/4.
Shot Put- 1, Marcus Clavelle, Arkansas, 64-1. 2, Reese Hoffa, Georgia, 63-10 1/2. 3, Christian Nehme, LSU, 57-7. 4, Alex Forst, SU, 56-10 1/4. 5, John Cross, Arkansas, 55-10 1/4. 6, Gabor Mate, Auburn, 55-7.
Women’s Results
Team Scores
1, Arkansas, 45. 2, Georgia, 31. 3, South Carolina, 18. 4, Florida, 16. 5, Auburn, 14.50. 6, Alabama, 8. 7, Kentucky, 6.50. 8 (tie), LSU, Mississippi State, 6. 10, Ole Miss, 4.11, Tennessee, 1.
Track Events
3000-meter run- 1, Larissa Kleinmann, Arkansas, 9:26.75. 2,Tracy Robertson, Arkansas, 9:27.71. 3, Amy Yoder, Arkansas, 9:29.27. 4, Jessica Dailey, Arkansas, 9:35.78. 5, Erin Jones, Georgia, 9:47.30. 6, Amy Wiseman, Arkansas, 9:49.61.
Field Events
Long Jump- 1, Tasha Mahone, Georgia, 21-0 1/2. 2, Antoinette Wilks, South Carolina, 20-11 1/4. 3, Keisha Spencer, LSU, 20-5 3/4. 4, Jernae Wright, Florida, 20-4 1/2. 5, Tisha Parker, Ole Miss, 20-3 3/4. 6, Yolanda Thompson, Florida, 20-3.
High Jump – 1, Latifah Long, Georgia, 5-11 1/2. 2, Nakeitra Long, Auburn, 5-10 1/2. 3, Kathryn Kilar, Florida, 5-10 1/2. 4 (tie), Shelly-Ann Gallimor, Auburn, Jane Crawford, Kentuky, 5-8 1/2. 6, Elisha Williams, Mississippi State, 5-6 1/2.
20-lb. Weight Throw- 1, Amber Crumbo, Arkansas, 59-5 3/4. 2, Safiya Ingram, Alabama, 59- 2. 3, Mamee Groves, South Carolina, 55-11 1/4. 4, Katie McCoy, Georgia, 55-9 1/4. 5, Loren Thouvenot, South Carolina, 53-11 1/4. 6, Stacey Salmon, Mississippi State, 53-3 3/4.