FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The eighth-ranked LSU men’s track and field team came up with a solid two-day effort that earned them second place as action concluded Sunday afternoon at the SEC Indoor Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
At the same time, the No. 1-ranked Lady Tigers finished fourth in the women’s competition behind a tremendous performance from Peta-Gaye Dowdie who earned a rare sprint double, claming both the 60 and 200 meter dash titles.
“Our men performed exceptionally well this weekend, they did just about everything they possibly could have,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “In the women’s case, our top-shelf athletes did exactly what we thought they would and probably very close to what they will do at the NCAA meet, but at this particular meet your depth is tested, and we are not as deep in some areas.”
It marked the first time since 1984 that the Lady Tigers did not finish in the top two at the SEC Indoor Championships and it was also the first time the men’s team finished higher since 1990 when they won the title and the women finished second.
Arkansas swept both the men’s and women’s team titles marking the first time the same school won both the men’s and women’s titles since LSU did the same in 1989.
The Tigers found themselves in third place behind Arkansas and Florida in the men’s team competition with two events to go, but stepped it up, getting 21 points over the final two events to claim second, finishing with 84.50 points to 73 for the Gators.
The Tigers started by winning the 4×400-meter relay for the first time since 1996, as Derrick Brew, Deryell Patterson, Wynand Dempers and Lueroy Colquhoun combined to run a time of 3:08.40, the third fastest time in school history.
Marcus Thomas then continued his tremendous weekend finishing second in the triple jump with a personal best effort of 53-6 1/4, while Traun Smith finished sixth. Thomas won the long jump title on the first day of competition.
While the Lady Tigers didn’t factor into the team title Sunday, nearly all of their premier athletes were in top form. Dowdie became the first woman since LSU’s D’Andre Hill to win both the 60 and 200-meter titles at the SEC Indoor Championships.
The senior All-American opened the day by claiming her first-ever 60-meter title in a time of 7.28 seconds, just off her season best.
Less than 90 minutes later she completed the double by blowing away the 200-meter field to claim her second consecutive SEC Indoor title in the deuce with a time of 23.06, the fastest time in the nation this year.
Keisha Spencer continued to sizzle and dominate the SEC in the triple jump, winning her second consecutive indoor title in the event with a personal best jump of 46-0 1/2, the fourth best jump in NCAA history.
“I’m just trying to be consistent,” said Spencer. “I want to do better each time I get on the runway. The last two times out I’ve jumped 46 (feet). It’s possible that I could jump even better at NCAAs.”
Combined with her SEC outdoor title in the event last year, Spencer is now three-for-three in the triple jump since coming to LSU prior to the 1999 season.
Teammate Bianca Rockett finished third with a jump of 42-7 1/2. Rockett entered the fifth round of the competition in seventh place but came up with a jump of 41-11 1/4 to move her into third. She came up with her 42-7 1/2 effort in her sixth and final jump which moved her briefly into second place before Sally-AnneGallimore of Auburn came up with a jump of 42-8 1/4 on the final jump of the competition to claim second.
Derrick Brew fell short in his bid to defend the SEC 400-meter title he won a year ago. In addition, he had his own school record broken by teammate Lueroy Colquhoun. Sanjay Ayre of Auburn won the event in a national leading time of 45.92, ironically, running out of the slow heat of the two section final.
In the second heat Colquhoun blazed to a 46.29, catching Brew, who ran 46.32, at the finish line to give the Tigers as 2-3 finish.
Colquhoun’s runner-up time shattered Brew’s two week old school record of 46.54 and was also an NCAA automatic qualifying mark.
Javier Nieto got the Tigers started Sunday morning with a second place finish in the men’s 35-lb.weight throw. Nieto came up with the second best effort of his career, throwing the weight 62-3 3/4. Former Northeast Louisiana standout Andras Haklits of Georgia, who won the event with a throw of 68-2 1/4.
The Tigers got contributions in the distance events from Likhaya Dayile and Frans Schimper. Dayile finished fifth in the men’s 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:25.85, while Schimper placed sixth in the mile with a time of 4:07.97.
Joyce Bates came up short in her bid to become the first Lady Tiger to win consecutive titles in the women’s 60-meter hurdles, finishing fifth in a time of 8.28. Teammate April Sams finished eighth in 8.40.
All those LSU athletes already qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships will take next week off, while the remainder of those still trying to get into the national meet will compete on Friday at the LSU Last Ditch at the Carl Maddox Field House.
SEC Indoor Championships
Day Two Results
February 27, 2000
Randal Tyson Track Center
Fayetteville, Ark.
Men’s Results
Team Scores – 1, Arkansas, 168. 2, LSU, 84.50. 3, Florida, 73. 4, Alabama, 63. 5, Tennessee, 58. 6, Auburn, 50. 7, Georgia, 34.50. 8, South Carolina, 33.50. 9, Kentucky, 24.50. 10 (tie), Mississippi State, Ole Miss, 17.50.
Track Events
60-meter dash- 1, Terrence Trammell, South Carolina, 6.58. 2, Leonard Scott, Tennessee, 6.63. 3, John Capel, Florida, 6.66. 4, Aaron Armstrong, Florida, 6.70. 5, Coby Miller, Auburn, 6.71. 6, Daymon Carroll, Florida, 6.73.
200-meter dash- 1, Coby Miller, Auburn, 20.50 (meet record- old record 20.71, Miller, Auburn, 1999) – . 2, John Capel, Florida, 20.51. 3, Leonard Scott, Tennessee, 20.85. 4, Daymon Carroll, Florida, 20.89. 5, Pierre Browne, Mississippi State, 20.92. 6, Jeremy Taylor, Alabama, 21.09.
400-meter run- 1, Sanjay Ayre, Auburn, 45.92. 2, Lueroy Colquhoun, LSU, 46.29 (new school record, old record- 46.54, Derrick Brew, 2/12/00). 3, Derrick Brew, LSU, 46.32. 4, Geno White, Florida, 46.67. 5, Avard Moncur, Auburn, 46.68. 6, Samuel Glover, Arkansas, 46.97.
800-meter run- 1, James Karanu, Arkansas, 1:48.37. 2, Aaron Richberg, Auburn, 1:48.57. 3, Nathan Knowles, Arkansas, 1:50.72. 4, Chadwick Johnson, Kentucky, 1:50.74. 5, Ali Abiola, Florida, 1:51.01. 6, Ryan Staley, Arkansas,1:51.20.
Mile run- 1, Tim Broe, Alabama, 3:59.67. 2, Ryan Travis, Arkansas, 4:02.40. 3, Drew Griffin, Georgia, 4:03.71. 4, Murray Link, Arkansas, 4:04.11. 5, Chris Duncan, Florida, 4:05.08. 6, Frans Schimper, LSU, 4:07.97.
5,000-meter run- 1, Andrew Begley, Arkansas, 13:56.44. 2, Daniel Lincoln, 14:06.05. 3, Chris Mutai, Alabama, 14:10.70. 4, Alan Dunleavey, Arkansas, 14:21.78. 5, Likhaya Dayile, LSU, 14:25.85. 6, Jon Jamison, Tennessee, 14:39.18.
60-meter hurdles- 1, Terrence Trammell, South Carolina, 7.57. 2, Ron Bramlett, Alabama, 7.69. 3, Eddie Jackson, Arkansas, 7.93. 4, Sean Lightfoot, Arkansas, 7.98. 5, D’Marcus Brown, Arkansas, 8.01. 6, John Buscema, Florida, 8.04.
1,600-meter relay – 1, LSU, 3:08.40. 2, Arkansas, 3:10.08. 3, South Carolina, 3:11.29. 4, Florida, 3:11.51. 5, Alabama, 3:12.40. 6, Tennessee, 3:12.65. Distance Medley Relay- 1, Arkansas, 9:42.74. 2, Alabama, 9:44.49. 3, Tennessee, 9:45.57. 4, Auburn, 9:52.58. 5, Florida, 9:57.76. 6, Georgia, 9:58.24.
Field Events
Triple Jump – 1, Melvin Lister, Arkansas, 54-5 1/4. 2, Marcus Thomas, LSU, 53-6 1/4. 3, Lavar Miller, Arkansas, 52-3 1/4. 4, Jason Ward, Arkansas, 52-2 3/4. 5, Vance Clarke, Mississippi State, 51-3 1/2. 6, Traun Smith, LSU, 51-1 1/2.
High Jump- 1, Kenny Evans, Arkansas, 7-5. 2, Lavar Miller, Arkansas, 7-3 3/4. 3, Tim Bell, Tennessee, 7-2 1/2. 4, Miguel Pate, Alabama, 7-1 3/4. 5 (tie), David Furman, Florida, Rod Newton, Mississippi State, 6-11 3/4.
35-lb. Weight Throw- 1, Andras Haklits, Georgia, 68-2 1/4. 2, Javier Nieto, LSU, 62-3 3/4. 3, Matthew Kavanagh, Kentucky, 62-2 1/2. 4, Stacey Andrews, Ole Miss, 59-0 1/4. 5, Reedus Thurmond, Auburn, 58-10 3/4. 6, Brian Woessner, Florida 58-4 1/2.
Women’s Results
Team Scores- 1, Arkansas, 140. 2, Florida, 96. 3, South Carolina, 94. 4, LSU, 65. 5, Georgia, 62. 6, Auburn, 47.50. 7, Alabama, 43. 8, Tennessee, 35. 9, Ole Miss, 18. 10 (tie), Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, 8. 12, Kentucky, 7.50.
Track Events
60-meter dash- 1, Peta-Gaye Dowdie, LSU, 7.28. 2, Vonnette Dixon, Auburn, 7.33. 3, Me’Lissa Barber, South Carolina, 7.36. 4, Teneeshia Jones, Ole Miss, 7.38. 5, Sa’Donna Thornton, LSU, 7.40. 6, Heather Sumpter, Tennessee, 7.43.
200-meter dash- 1, Peta-Gaye Dowdie, LSU, 23.06. 2, Me’Lissa Barber, South Carolina, 23.47. 3, Mechelle Lewis, South Carolina, 23.73. 4, Teneeshia Jones, Ole Miss, 23.76. 5, Heather Sumpter, Tennessee, 23.92. 6, Virginia Miller, Arkansas, 24.22.
400-meter dash- 1, Miki Barber, South Carolina, 51.97 (meet record- old record, 52.45, LaTarsha Stroman, LSU, 1997). 2, Yolanda Brown-Moore, 52.81. 3, Demetria Washington, South Carolina, 53.33. 4, Peta-Gay Gayle, Alabama, 53.48. 5, Faith Rein, Florida, 53.67. 6, Valma Bass, LSU, 55.09.
800-meter run- 1, Tamieka Grizzle, Florida, 2:05.95. 2, Tawa Babtunde, Arkansas,2:08.16. 3, Nona Allen, Florida, 2:08.25. 4, Bobbette Stewart, Alabama, 2:09.59. 5, Kamile Bratton, Florida, 2:10.40. 6, Melissa DeLeon, Florida, 2:11.15.
Mile run- 1, Tracy Robertson, Arkansas, 4:41.12. 2, Jessica Dailey, Arkansas, 4:44.71. 3, Larissa Kleinmann, Arkansas, 4:49.02. 4, Laura McKinley, Georgia, 4:50.24. 5, Christin Wurth, Arkansas, 4:53.45. 6, Erin Merten, Florida, 4:58.21.
5,000-meter run- 1, Amy Yoder, Arkansas, 16:18.38. 2, Tracy Robertson, Arkansas, 16:43.29. 3, Erin Jones, Georgia, 16:45.34. 4, Amy Wiseman, Arkansas, 17:04.39. 5, Ramona Saridakas, Florida, 17:10.54. 6, Beth Van Dusen, Vanderbilt,17:21.07.
60-meter hurdles- 1, Vonnette Dixon, Auburn, 8.00. 2, Ellakisha Williamson, South Carolina, 8.17. 3, NeJuan Blackwell, Alabama, 8.20. 4, Kyle Shoemake, Arkansas, 8.26. 5, Joyce Bates, LSU, 8.28. 6, Teneeshia Jones, Ole Miss, 8.29.
1,600-meter relay- 1, Florida, 3:35.40 (meet record -old record, 3:35.72, LSU, 1997). 2, South Carolina, 3:35.45. 3, LSU, 3:35.86. 4, Arkansas, 3:37.26. 5, Georgia, 3:37.59. 6, Alabama, 3:39.20.
Distance Medley Relay- 1, Arkansas, 11:27.97. 2, Florida, 11:39.19. 3, Georgia, 11:46.28. 4, Tennessee, 12:00.41. 5, South Carolina, 12:06.58. 6, LSU, 12:09.36.
Field Events
Triple Jump- 1, Keisha Spencer, LSU, 46-0 1/2 (meet record – old record, 45-10 1/2, Suzette Lee, LSU, 1997). 2, Shelly-Ann Gallimore, Auburn, 42-8 1/4. 3, Bianca Rockett, LSU, 42-7 1/2. 4, Rodena Barr, South Carolina, 41-10 3/4. 5, Virginia Miller, Arkansas, 41-9 1/4. 6, Yolanda Thompson, Florida, 41-7.
Shot Put- 1, Safiya Ingram, Alabama, 52-11. 2, Rhonda Hackett, Georgia, 52-0 1/2. 3, Andrea Pappas, Tennessee, 49-1 1/2. 4, Stacy Martin, Auburn, 49-0 3/4. 5, Lynette Keppeler, South Carolina, 48-1 1/4. 6, Natalie Kinion, Alabama, 47-7 3/4.
Pole Vault- 1, Laura Hawkins, Florida, 12-11 3/4. 2, Christie Elwin, Tennessee, 12-8. 3, Beth Gehring, Tennessee, 12-4. 4, Jamie Walker, Arkansas, 12-0. 5, Megan Westfall, Florida, 12-0. 6, Amanda Ross, Arkansas, 12-0.