BATON ROUGE — It was billed as a meet of world class athletes, the finest meet to come to Baton Rouge in many years, and the 68th Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Bernie Moore Track Stadium certainly didn’t disappoint.
The Tigers finished second for the second time in three years, while the Lady Tigers finished third for the second straight year. In all, the men’s and women’s teams combined to win seven events on the final day of competition.
Arkansas swept both titles, giving both teams a “triple crown” sweep of the SEC cross country, indoor and outdoor track titles. South Carolina finished second in the women’s competition ahead of the Lady Tigers.
The Tigers got victories from Derrick Brew in the 400-meter dash, Russ Buller in the pole vault and Blake Theriot in the javelin.
Brew ran a poised first 200 meters, then kicked into another gear over the second half lap to bring home victory in a time of 44.70, the fastest time in the world in 2000. For Brew, it was his second straight conference title.
Brew also finished second in the 200-meter dash while also helping both relays score highly. With 21-1 + points, Brew earned the Commissioner’s Trophy as the high point scorer on the men’s side, the second time in three years the award went to a Tiger.
Buller became the first man in LSU history to win four consecutive SEC crowns, winning the pole vault with an effort of 17-11. After securing victory at 17-11, Buller raised the bar to 19-0 +, but failed to negotiate the height.
Buller also tied former Tennessee great Lawrence Johnson for career SEC pole vault titles with six.
Blake Theriot spearheaded a 1-3-5 finish by the Tigers in the javelin on Sunday with a personal best and NCAA provisional qualifying throw of 231-8. The throw by Theriot was a personal best by 11 feet.
Craig Nall, who rejoined the team for this meet after competing for the starting quarterback job during spring practice, finished third with an impressive toss of 219-9 in only his second outing ever for the LSU track and field team.
Other top finishers on the men’s side on Sunday were Greg Scott who finished third in the 110-meter hurdles, a second-place finish by the men’s 4×100-meter relay and a third-place finish by the 4×400-meter relay.
Keisha Spencer continued her dominance in the triple jump, winning the title with a wind-aided mark of 46-2 +. Spencer concluded her two-year SEC career a perfect 4-0 in conference competitions indoors and outdoors in the triple jump.
Peta-Gaye Dowdie gave the Tigers a big boost, taking the 100-meter title, her second career victory in the event, blasting out to a time of 11.20. Dowdie then finished second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.04.
Joyce Bates picked up her first SEC title in the 100-meter hurdles, bringing home victory in a time of 12.89 seconds, the fourth fastest time in the world this year.
Bates and Dowdie also combined with Valma Bass and Myra Combs to give the Lady Tigers their 11th 4×100-meter title in the last 13 years, running the second fastest time in the NCAA this year, 43.83.
Now LSU shifts its emphasis to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Those athletes who have already qualified will take this weekend off, while those who are close to meeting the NCAA qualifying standard will have one last shot on Friday at the LSU Last Ditch at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
The NCAA Outdoor Championships will be held from May 31-June 3 in Durham, N.C., on the campus of Duke University.