BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field team got off to a quick start on day one of the LSU Team Championships at Bernie Moore Stadium, advancing well in preliminary action, while also receiving a school record in the women’s hammer.
“We had a fantastic day across the board,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “We got some great marks, some great times and set the stage for a big day tomorrow. We advanced well in all areas and came up with some great efforts in the field.”
Junior Candice Gonzalez broke her own school record in the hammer and posted a winning mark of 188 feet 1 inches, bettering her previous mark by more than half a foot. The throw moved Gonzalez up the NCAA provisional list. Teammate Mallory McDonald gave LSU a 1-2 finish in the event with a mark of 177-4.
On the track, both the Tigers and Lady Tigers fared very well and advanced all key personnel. Muna Lee and Stephanie Durst looked extremely sharp and both advanced in the 100 and 200-meter dashes.
Lee won her preliminary heat of the 100-meter dash in a national leading time of 11.31 seconds, while Durst followed shortly after by winning her heat in a time of 11.44.
But it was at 200 meters that the two really put on a show. Durst opened the event by winning her section with a significant personal best of 22.79, an NCAA automatic qualifier run under legal winds.
Moments later Lee followed with a slightly wind-aided time of 22.75 setting up a very fast final on Saturday afternoon.
Lolo Jones continued to look sharp in the 100-meter hurdles and registered the fastest qualifying time of the day in the preliminary rounds. The sophomore All-American came with a fast preliminary time of 13.16 with a slight wind behind her. Zamyal Jackson, Ranysha LeBlanc and Tiffany Robinson all made the final as well.
Ronetta Smith won her section of the women’s 400-meter dash with a time of 53.05 and went virtually untested. Smith took control of the meet in the first 200 meters and won by a comfortable 10-meter margin.
The Lady Tigers grabbed five of the nine spots in Saturday’s 400-meter final, as Keoike Lutcher, Brandy Walker, Althea Thomas and Stephanie Butler all advanced as well.
On the men’s side, the quarter milers looked sharp as well, as Pete Coley and Alleyne Francique posted the top two efforts on the day. Coley blasted out an NCAA provisional and season best time of 46.19 to lead the pack, while Francique coasted to an easy win in his heat in a time of 46.71. Both athletes had comfortable leads and shut down over the final 50 meters of the race, saving for Saturday’s final.
Marlon Greensword advanced as well with a time of 47.11.
Robert Parham wrapped up competition on the track with his second consecutive strong showing in the 200-meter dash. The sophomore All-American ran a slightly wind-aided time of 20.47, just off his season best to lead all qualifiers for Saturday’s final.
“That was a big race for Robert because he’s really developing some consistency,” added Henry. “He ran 20.44 last weekend and that kind of repetition of great times is a positive with SECs and NCAAs not that far off.”
In the field, Javier Nieto came up with a season best mark of 206-8, five feet bettering than his previous season best. Nieto’s mark was also an NCAA provisional qualifier.
The LSU Team Championships continue tomorrow with field events getting underway at 11 a.m., while track events start at 1 p.m.
Team Scoring
Men
1, UL-Lafayette, 19. 2, Minnesota, 18. 3 (tie), Texas, Northwestern State, 18. 5, Houston, 15. 6 (tie), LSU, Tulane, 10. 8, Alabama, 8. 9, Texas A&M, 3. 10, Louisiana Tech, 1.
Women
1, LSU, 41. 2, Houston, 24 1/2. 3, UL-Lafayette, 18. 4, Rice, 16 1/2. 5, Alabama, 10. 6, Texas A&M, 8. 7, Louisiana Tech, 6. 8, Tulane, 3.