SACRAMENTO, Calif. — LSU All-American Marcus Thomas continued his season-long hot streak, recording the sixth best jump in the preliminary round of the long jump while advancing to Monday’s final on day two of the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif.
At the same time, Derrick Brew’s quest for his first Olympic team came to a halt as he finished seventh in his semifinal heat of the 400-meter dash.
Thomas came up with a personal best jump of 26 feet 3 inches in a competition that looked reminiscent of the SEC or NCAA Championships. Included in the top five were Savante Stringfellow of Ole Miss who finished second, Miguel Pate of Alabama who placed third, and Melvin Lister of Arkansas who placed fifth.
Considered a long shot, Thomas has beaten each of his SEC rivals this year. Thomas took the SEC Indoor title in the long jump in February.
Brew knew he would have his work cut out for him in his semifinal heat of the 400-meter dash and could not overcome the burden of having to run in lane one. Brew finished seventh in his heat in a time of 45.74 seconds. Michael Johnson won the heat with the fastest qualifying time of the day, 44.63.
Elsewhere among former LSU athletes, Youlanda Warren just missed advancing to the women’s 400-meter dash finals, finishing fifth in her semifinal heat despite running a blazing 51.35. Cheryl Taplin bowed out in the semifinal round of the women’s 100-meter dash, clocking an 11.54 to finish fifth in her section.
NCAA Indoor and Outdoor pole vault champion Russ Buller missed out on an opportunity at his first Olympic appearance Sunday afternoon, no-heighting in the finals of his signature event at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Sacramento, Calif.
Buller entered the competition at 18 feet 1 inches, missing on his first attempt, then shattering his pole on his second attempt. With one chance left, his body surpassed the height, but he tapped the bar on his way over. Buller had finished fourth in the preliminary rounds late Friday night.
Buller was the only LSU athlete in action on Sunday.