CLAREMONT, Calif. — Overcoming cold and slightly windy conditions the LSU track and field team still produced a successful day at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational Friday, claiming seven meet titles at the Strehle Track Complex.
“At this time of the season our sport is often dictated by weather,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “That was the definitely the case today. I think considering the conditions we had to work with the team did a good job. We were productive and had some good things happen despite the cold weather.”
The highlight of the day came in sophomore Bennie Brazell‘s meet-winning mark of 50.53 in the 400-meter hurdles. The All-American’s time was a season-best effort by almost two full seconds and outdistanced the nearest competitor by nearly one second.
Brazell opened the day by anchoring the 4×100-meter relay team of Pete Simon, Robert Parham and Kelly Willie to a meet-best mark of 40.03.
Also turning in solid performances for the Tigers in the running events were Jeffrey Fisher and Adrian Mayes. Fisher posted LSU?s top time in the 800 meters this season, 1:51.69, to place third in the event, while Mayes clocked the Tigers’ top time in the 110-meter hurdles (14.44) to finish fourth.
The Tigers dominated the field events sweeping the top three spots in the long jump and the top two places in the javelin, in addition to recording four other top five finishes.
Freshman Taylor Bobo turned in a PR, and LSU season-best throw of 212-4 in the javelin to take home gold in the event. He was followed by senior Luke Kinnard who finished second with a distance of 207-10.
In the long jump, junior John Moffitt won his second-straight meet title in the event, taking home top honors with a leap of 25-6 1/4. Senior Train Smith and junior LeJuan Simon wrapped up the LSU 1-2-3 sweep, finishing second and third, respectively, with marks of 24-0 3/4 and 23-11.
Joe Lochridge qualified for the regional meet in the discus, finishing just shy of a gold medal in the event with a toss of 171-9. Lochridge’s mark topped his previous season best outing by over seven feet and is an LSU best this season.
Matching Lochridge’s accomplishment on the women’s side was sophomore Katie McKeever. McKeever posted a season-best throw of 165-9 in the discus to also earn a bid to the NCAA regional meet.
However, McKeever’s highlight of the day came in the shot put competition. The Woodland, Calif., native, turned the third-best throw in school history, 51-9 3/4, to finish second among the field of talented competitors.
Recording wins for the Lady Tigers in the field were sophomore LaToya Payne and junior Ashley Gardner. Payne won the long jump with her effort of 20-3 1/2, while Gardner outdistanced the competition with a leap of 40-9 in the triple jump. Gardner also had a solid showing in the long jump, finishing third with a mark of 19-5 1/2.
On the track, the Lady Tiger hurdlers paced the women?s squad, claiming three of the top four spots in the event. Junior Zamyal Jackson won the meet title registering a time of 13.66, while RaNysha LeBlanc came in second (13.68) and Tiffany Robinson finished fourth (13.97).
The LSU track and field teams will resume competition tomorrow, April 19, when they challenge some of the top competition in the country in the final day of action from the 45th annual Mt. SAC Relays.