NEW YORK — It was a meeting of the biggest and the best in the biggest city in America and one team definitely stood out. The LSU track and field team served notice on Saturday, as its sprinters and jumpers dominated the field at the “Meet of Champions” Armory Invitational in New York City.
LSU combined to win seven events on Saturday, while posting six NCAA automatic qualifying marks and several high provisionals.
“We had just an unbelievable weekend here,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “This is a fantastic field and I think we really stood out and were able to put together the kind of competition we needed with the SEC Championships just two weeks off. We got some really incredible individual performances this weekend.”
Muna Lee continued her torrid pace and blew away the field in both the 60 and 200-meter dashes, setting building records at the famed Armory track in each event. The sophomore All-American dusted to the field in a time of 7.25 seconds to win the 60-meter title, then returned moments later to take the 200-meter title in an NCAA-leading time of 23.19.
Teammate Stephanie Durst finished second in the 200-meter dash in a time of 23.23 seconds, the second fastest time in the nation this season and an NCAA automatic qualifying mark.
Ronetta Smith finished fourth in the women’s 400-meter dash, but ran a season-best NCAA automatic qualifying time of 53.20 in the process.
The Lady Tigers added another NCAA automatic qualifier in the half-mile, as newcomer Marian Burnett blew away the field to the tune of 2:06.07, the fourth fastest time in the nation this year.
In the field, the Lady Tigers’ triple jumpers were particularly sharp, as Nicole Toney earned an NCAA automatic qualifier with a jump of 43-1 3/4, while Andria Booker added a provisional mark with a jump of 42-2 3/4.
On the men’s side, the quarter milers looked sharp again, as Alleyne Francique and Lueroy Colquhoun combined for a 1-2 finish for the second consecutive week. Francique ran a blazing NCAA automatic qualifying time of 46.15 to claim the victory, while Colquhoun ran a provisional time of 46.76 in his runner-up finish.
The two also combined with Robert Parham and Pete Coley to improve to 3-0 on the season in the 4×400-meter relay with an easy victory.
“The men’s quarter-milers looked very good,” added Henry. “This was important for them because it’s the first time we’ve doubled these guys in the open quarter and the mile relay and it’s a good experience for them to get used to running the heats and the finals with SEC’s and NCAA’s right around the corner.”
Walter Davis improved to 3-0 in the long jump with a solid of 25-7, but Henry opted not to use the 2000 Olympian in the triple jump. Davis now has a 5-0 combined record in the long and triple jumps this season.
LSU returns home on Friday for the LSU Twilight, a light competition at the Carl Maddox Field House that will give both squads one last tune-up before the SEC Indoor Championships which will be held from Feb. 22-24 in Fayetteville, Ark.