BATON ROUGE — Every year the LSU Last Ditch changes the shape on the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, as someone steps up to the challenge of qualifying for nationals in their final chance.
LSU head coach Pat Henry hopes that athlete is Claston Bernard or Zamyal Jackson this year, as each took one step towards qualifying for their first NCAA Indoor Championship to highlight the LSU Last Ditch at the Carl Maddox Field House Friday night.
Bernard finished second in the men’s high jump, but first among collegiate athletes with a personal-best jump of 7 feet 1 3/4 inches , moving to a tie for the No. 10 spot in the nation.
At the same time, Zamyal Jackson finished second in the 60-meter hurdles, but posted a time of 8.34 seconds that put her on the proverbial bubble and into the No. 16 spot in the nation.
“That’s why you have this meet, maybe one of these athletes alters the outcome next weekend now,” said Henry. “I think we were in good shape heading into this meet, but anything that you get out of it helps you take the next step at the national meet.”
Javier Nieto came up with a huge throw of 66-6 1/2 in the weight throw, the second best in school history and the best mark by a Tiger in nearly a decade. The mark will likely not put the senior thrower into the national field next weekend, however.
In the women’s weight throw, Mallory McDonald may have came up just short in her bid to become the first Lady Tiger to qualify for the women’s weight throw. Her toss of 62-1 was just off her season best. She entered the meet ranked No. 21 in the nation.
The top-ranked Lady Tigers and third ranked Tigers travel to Fayetteville, Ark., next weekend for the NCAA Indoor Championships. The Tigers are the defending NCAA Indoor champions, while the Lady Tigers have won eight titles in their illustrious history, most recently in 1997.