STARKVILLE, Miss. — LSU’s women’s track team returned to its winning ways Saturday finishing first at the SEC Quadrangular, while the men’s team finished second at the W.O. Spencer Stadium/Carl Maddox Field.
Behind six individual first-place finishes the Lady Tigers tallied a meet-best 128 points to hold off Mississippi State (109) and Arkansas (108). On the men’s side. Mississippi State topped the field scoring 174 points, while the Tigers finished in second with 161.5 points, and Alabama (111) and Arkansas (98.5) rounded out the field in third and fourth,respectively.
RaNysha LeBlanc and Stephanie Butler paced the Lady Tigers in the running events. LeBlanc won the 100-meter hurdles in 13.57 seconds and finished second at the 200 meters, clocking a time a time of 24.37, while Butler won gold in the 400 meters (55.76) and finished third in the 200 meters (24.83).
The foursome of Katrina Flanders, Michelle Hymel, Megan Kleibert and Sandra Smith combined to take home top honors in the 4×400-meter relay registering the meet’s top time at 3:46.76.
In the field events, Katie McKeever had a productive day, winning the discus with a toss of 158-5 and finishing second in the shot put with a throw of 44-0 1/2.
Dianne Harrison and Maria Romero also came away with gold for the Lady Tigers. Harrison cleared 5-5 in the high jump to top the competition, while Romero won the javelin in her first meet of the 2003 season, throwing for a distance of 157-4.
The men’s team turned in six first-place finishes of their own, registering four in the field events and two in the running events.
Competing for the first time this season, Matt Vincent won the discus with a throw of 162-0 and finished third in the shot put with a toss of 57-7 1/4.
Joe Lochridge won the shot put competition, topping the field with a mark of 55-10 1/2.
In the javelin, Tyler Bobo took home top honors as well with his throw of 205-2, while Luke Kinnard finished third in the event with a distance of 203-10.
The Tigers swept the top two spots in the triple jump as Willie Bradley won gold and Traun Smith took home silver with marks of 48-11 3/4 and 48-7 1/2, respectively.
On the track, the Tigers shined in the 400 meter events. Just a week removed from winning a national championship as a member of LSU’s 4×400-meter relay team, Marlon Greensword returned to action winning the open quarter with a time of 47.84. Greensword then joined with Jamison Carter, Anthony Ewers and Pedro Tunon to take home a first-place finish in the 4×400 relay, clocking 3:11.72.
The LSU track and field team returns to action next weekend, March 28-29, when it hosts its first outdoor meet of the season, the LSU Tiger Relays, at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
TEAM RESULTS
Men
1, Mississippi State, 174. 2, LSU, 161.50. 3, Alabama, 111. 4, Arkansas, 98.5.
Women
1, LSU, 128. 2, Mississippi State, 109. 3, Arkansas, 108.