DURHAM, N.C. — LSU pole vaulter Russ Buller added the missing piece to his illustrious resume` Thursday evening, as he became the first Tiger since 1933 to win the outdoor national title in the pole vault, capping a solid second day of action at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Durham, N.C.
In a see-saw day for LSU, Buller’s victory capped a day in which his fellow Tiger teammates struggled at times, but still find themselves in fourth place after two days, while the Lady Tigers managed to shine once again.
“For Russ to win a national title and close his career out in that fashion is just tremendous,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “He’s worked very hard to get where he is today.
“Overall, our ladies were outstanding once again. We advanced all three sprinters in the 100-meter dash, we advanced the mile relay, Joyce Bates looks very good in the 100-meter hurdles. Our man, however, had as tough a day as I can recall. Russ aside, we had some unfortunate things happen and didn’t advance well on the track.”
The Tigers have a two-day total of 16 points for fourth place, while the Lady Tigers have four points and are in 20th place, but have advanced well through two days and will have a number of their scoring opportunities over
the final two days of competition.
Stanford leads the men’s competition with 31 points, followed by Auburn and SMU. BYU leads the women’s competition with Arkansas and Nebraska tied for second.
Buller, who earlier this season won the NCAA Indoor title, entered the meet at 18-0 + and cleared the height on his first attempt. As only five competitors remained, Buller cleared his eventual winning height of 18-4 +. As only he and Toby Stevenson of Stanford remained after that height either was able to clear 18-6 + and Buller won the title on a countback.
It was the perfect ending for Buller who had won the NCAA Indoor, SEC Indoor and Outdoor, Texas and Penn Relay titles, but had never earned All-American honors outdoors after a pair of ninth place finishes in his first two years and a no-height a year ago.
“I’m glad I could get 10 points for my team,” said the senior from Westlake, La. “This title means the most to me because I haven’t had a lot of success at this meet before. I’m happy to go out like this. I’ve won just about every title but this was the one missing until tonight.”
The Lady Tigers got on the board with a pair of scorers in the long jump. SEC runner-up Keisha Spencer moved from ninth to sixth place on her final attempt with a jump of 20-9. Teammate Monique Freeman closed out her career with an eighth place finish with a jump of 20-5 3/4.
The Lady Tigers picked up four points as a result but also set the stage in a number of other events, advancing well on Thursday.
The Lady Tigers looked particularly sharp in the 100-meter dash, as all three LSU athletes advanced to Friday’s semifinal round. As she did in the 200-meter dash on Wednesday evening, Dowdie ran the fastest 100-meter qualifying time of Thursday. Dowdie blazed through her heat in a time of 11.21 seconds, her second fastest time of the season.
Sa’Donna Thornton finished fifth in the same heat in a time of 11.49 but still advanced, while Valma Bass finished fifth in her heat as well with a time of 11.52 but still advanced to the semifinal round.
Joyce Bates advanced to Friday’s semifinal round of the 100-meter hurdles, but teammate April Sams was not as fortunate. Bates finished second in her heat of the short hurdles in a time of 13.03 running out of lane seven. Kirstin Bolm of BYU won the heat in a time of 13.02.
Sams just missed the semifinal round, finishing seventh in her heat with a time of 13.31, missing by two places. Despite not advancing, it is the fastest wind-legal time of her career.
In a unfortunate turn of events for the Tigers, 1999 NCAA 400-meter dash runner-up Derrick Brew failed to qualify for Saturday’s final in the quarter. Brew finished second in his heat, but endured a slow pace and ran a time of 45.79 that finished three spots out of a berth in the final.
“I knew I was going to have to run fast because the first heat was very fast,” said Brew. “I thought Avard (Moncur of Auburn) was on the same pace and that I could win the heat and get the automatic qualifier, but I looked up and he was passed me.”
Greg Scott, fresh off a third place finish in the 110-meter hurdles at the SEC Outdoor Championships, came to Durham with high expectations, but failed to advance out of the first round after finishing seventh in his heat. Scott struggled out of the blocks and ran a time of 14.05.
Javier Nieto narrowly missed becoming LSU’s first All-American in the hammer throw since Dave Paddison in 1993. Nieto finished ninth, one spot off the awards stand, with a throw of 208-9.
Alex Forst came up with the second best throw of his career and just missed picking up a few additional points for the Tigers. Forst finished tied for 10th with a throw of 60-3 3/4.
Loren Leaverton finished 16th in the heptathlon with a two-day total of 5,221. The sophomore from Garland, Texas was in 10th place after an impressive effort of 18-11 3/4 in the long jump, but struggled in the javelin and 800-meter run to close out the competition.
Men’s Team Scores (Top 10)
After six events
1, Stanford, 31. 2, Auburn, 21. 3, SMU, 18. 4, LSU, 16. 5, Georgia, 13. 6 (tie), Ole Miss, Idaho, Wyoming, 10. 9, Texas A&M, 9. 10 (tie), Arizona State, Boise State, 8.
Women’s Team Scores
After six events
1, BYU, 23. 2 (tie), Arkansas, Nebraska, 18. 4, Houston, 16. 5, UCLA, 15. 6, California, 11. 7 (tie), SMU, Texas, Wyoming, Akron, 10. … 20, LSU, 4.