COLUMBIA, S.C. — To win a Southeastern Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship requires a number elements. It requires elite athletes and it requires tremendous depth.
The LSU track and field team had the elite athletes this weekend, but did not have the depth across the board to compete for a team title on either the men’s or women’s side, as the Lady Tigers finished fourth and the Tigers sixth at the SEC Championships in Columbia, S.C.
“We had some incredible performances this weekend, we’re just a team that is very top heavy, we have a number elite athletes,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “We just don’t have the depth to compete for a title at this meet right now. We had a number of the best performances at this meet this weekend but we didn’t have the depth to win.
“The NCAA Championships is a different competition, one designed for the elite athletes. I feel confident after this weekend, despite what our finishes here look like on paper, that we are quite prepared for NCAAs in just over two weeks.”
The LSU track and field team combined to win five events events on the final day of competition at Weems Baskin Track, as Muna Lee pulled a rare sprint double, while Walter Davis completed his sweep of the horizontal jumps.
Tennessee snapped Arkansas’ nine-year hold on the men’s title, blowing away the field with 153 Points. Arkansas did extend its streak in the women’s competition, as the Lady ‘Backs won their second straight title with 182 points.
The Lady Tigers finished with 103 points in the women’s race, just behind Florida and South Carolina while the Tigers tallied 77 1/2 and finished 1/2 point behind Georgia for a spot in the top five. Florida also finished second in the men’s competition.
The athletes that LSU did have in action on Sunday were nothing short of spectacular, as the men’s and women’s teams combined to win four events on the day.
Lee became the first freshman to win the 100-meter dash since LSU’s Peta-Gaye Dowdie, clocking a time of 11.28 to claim victory. Lee got out of the blocks well and separated herself by the midway point, coasting to an easy victory. Me’Lisa Barber of South Carolina finished second in a distant 11.46.
Her day wasn’t over, however, as Lee claimed the 200-meter titles just 45 minutes later. Lee ate up the curve and held on for victory in a time of 23.13 to become the first Lady Tiger to pull the sprint double since Esther Jones in 1991.
“For Muna to do what she did, whether she is a freshman or a senior, is incredible,” said Henry. ‘The fact that she is only a freshman makes it more incredible.”
Earlier in the day, Davis completed the sweep of the horizontal jumps, taking the triple jump with a season-best and NCAA-leading mark of 55 feet 11 inches. The mark ranks second in school history and won by nearly two feet.
Davis opened up with a jump of 54-1 and led heading into the finals. On his fifth attempt he came up with a 54-7 1/2 effort before registering his eventual winning mark on his last attempt.
With the victory, Davis became only the fifth man in SEC history to win both horizontal jumps and the first LSU man to do so.
“To me, Walter was the most oustanding athlete of this meet, for any team, not just LSU,” added Henry. “Those are two world class performances in very tough events.”
Myra Combs won her first SEC individual title, edging teammate Chenelle Marshall for the women’s long jump crown.
Combs trailed Marshall by 1/4 inch heading into her final attempt and came up with a slightly wind-aided mark of 20-7 3/4 on her last attempt to become LSU’s second champion in three years.
Marshall finished with a jump of 20-7. Both marks registered by Combs and Marshall move them up the NCAA provisional qualifying list as well.
Alleyne Francique finished second in the men’s 400-meter dash in a replica of the SEC Indoor final. Avard Moncur of Auburn won the title in 44.78 and got off to a tremendous start. Moncur then held off Francique and distanced himself over the final 40 meters. Francique finished with a time of 44.99, breaking his own Grenadian national record in the event.
Francique got his measure of revenge, however, as he anchored the LSU 4×400-meter relay team to a victory in the final event of the competition, edging Moncur to give the Tigers a win in a time of 3:03.63.
“It was important for us to come back and win this event,” said Francique.
“We lost our last two times out and at the Penn Relays we finished third behind Florida and Auburn. We’re still have the fastest time in the nation and we needed to get a win heading into nationals.”
One day after going to the hospital with a stomach virus, freshman Lolo Jones finished second in the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 13.47. Jones narrowly missed catching eventual champion Teneeshia Jones of Ole Miss who won in a time of 13.40.
Ronetta Smith gave the Lady Tigers six critical points, finishing third in the 400-meter dash in a time of 52.49. Miki Barber of South Carolina won the event in a time of 50.63, the second fastest time ever by an American collegian, trailing only the 50.60 posted by LaTarsha Stroman of LSU in 1997.
The Lady Tigers had their streak of consecutive conference 4×100-meter relay titles snapped at six, as South Carolina won the event in a time of 43.48, while LSU’s foursome of Sa’Donna Thornton, Stephanie Durst, Combs and Lee finished second in 43.56.
The men’s 4×100 relay was not as fortunate, however, as the Tigers failed to get the stick around.
Elsewhere in the field, Nunez placed third in the javelin with a throw of 209-7, improving upon his fifth place finish a year ago.
The Lady Tigers got a 3-4 finish from their freshmen javelin tandem of Neely Falgout and Maria Romero. Falgout came up with a throw of 142-5, while Romero followed with a throw of 140-8.
Those athletes that are close to the NCAA automatic qualifying standard but not there will get one last chance to qualify on Friday at the LSU Last Ditch at Bernie Moore Track Stadium. Field events get underway at 2 p.m., while track events get underway at 5 p.m.
Team Scoring
Men’s Results
1, Tennessee, 153. 2, Florida, 107 1/2. 3, Arkansas, 104. 4, Alabama, 91 1/2. 5, Georgia, 78. 6, LSU, 77 1/2. 7, Auburn, 71. 8, South Carolina, 68. 9, Kentucky, 28. 10, Mississippi State, 19 1/2. 11, Ole Miss, 18.
Women’s Results
1, Arkansas, 182. 2, Florida, 112. 3, South Carolina, 109. 4, LSU, 103. 5, Auburn, 67. 6, Alabama, 63 1/2. 7, Georgia, 55. 8, Ole Miss, 39. 9, Tennessee, 31. 10, Kentucky, 29. 11, Vanderbilt, 15. 12, Mississippi State, 12 1/2.
Notes
* The winning jump of 55-11 by Davis was the second longest jump in SEC Outdoor Championship history. Jerome Romain of Arkansas won the event in 1995 with a mark of 56-1/2.
* Myra Combs won the first individual SEC title of her career after winning six titles on relays through her first three seasons at LSU.
* The sweep of the long jump titles by Davis and Combs was the first time the same school won both titles since Victor Houston and Colleen Gillies of Auburn in 1996.
* The second place finish by the Lady Tigers in the 4×100-meter relay was their first defeat at the SEC Outdoor Championships since 1994. The Lady Tigers had won six straight titles.
* Muna Lee became the first freshman to win the SEC 100-meter title since former LSU great Peta-Gaye Dowdie in 1997.
* Lee became the first Lady Tiger to win the 200-meter title since Astia Walker in 1997 and the first to pull the sprint double since Olympic Gold Medalist Esther Jones in 1991.
* The 22 points registered by Lee (10 for the 100, 10 for the 200 and 2 on the 4×100-meter relay) gave her the highest point total by a Lady Tigers since Astia Walker won the Commissioner’s Trophy in 1997 with 22 1/2 points.
* Alleyne Francique broke the Grenadian national record in the 400-meter dash for the third time this season with his runner-up time of 44.99. He also becomes only the second man in LSU history to run a sub-45 second quarter, joining school record holder Derrick Brew who posted a time of 44.29 at the SEC Championships in 1999.
* LSU won its first men’s 4×400-meter relay title since 1998. Their time of 3:03.63 was the third fastest in SEC Championship history.