PHILADELPHIA — After consistent showers deluged the Philadelphia area on Saturday morning, the LSU track and field teams continued to shine at the 109th-annual Penn Relays as the second-ranked Lady Tigers set a collegiate record here at the venerable Franklin Field.
After winning four Penn Relay titles on Friday, the LSU women’s track and field team continued to show its dominance on Saturday as the Lady Tigers earned titles in the 4×200 relay competition and the 100-meter dash, in addition to earning runner-up honors in the 4×400-meter relay.
“It was a great, great day for LSU,” said head coach Pat Henry. “In front of 60,000 people this team put on a show. I would say this meet is one of the highlights of my 16 years here at LSU.”
In LSU’s first event of the day, the Lady Tigers’ relay team comprised of Nadia Davy, Monique Hall, Stephanie Durst and Muna Lee set a collegiate record in the 4×200 relay competition for the second time in less then a month, posting an unprecedented time of 1:29.78. Despite trailing after the third leg of the race, LSU’s All-American Lee blazed through the anchor leg of the competition and cruised to the finish line nearly two seconds ahead of Texas’ Sanya Richards.
The record-setting time was the first women’s collegiate mark under 1:30.00 and shattered LSU’s previous mark of 1:30.07 set April 5 at the Texas Relays. The win also gave LSU its fourth relay victory of the 2003 Penn Relays, making the Lady Tiger squad one of just a few teams in the history of the famed competition to register four relay victories.
“I don’t believe that in the modern era of the Penn Relays a team has ever won four relay titles,” said Henry. “Our athletes came ready to compete. They did that and did a great job.”
The LSU women’s track team garnered Penn Relay titles in the 4×100 relay, the shuttle hurdle relay, the sprint medley relay and the triple jump competition on Friday. It had been the first time in school history that the Lady Tigers posted four victories in one day at the prestigious Penn Relays.
“We felt good coming into the weekend,” said LSU All-American Monique Hall. “Everyone was real focused. I am just a little at a loss for words when it comes to describing what took place this weekend. I mean, I don’t think we expected to sweep four relays.”
The Lady Tigers nearly became the first school in Penn Relays history to win five relay titles as the 4×400-meter relay ran the third fastest time in school history (3:28.68), but was outdistanced in the end by a solid Texas quartet (3:27.64) and placed second overall.
Individually, Muna Lee claimed the Lady Tigers’ sixth title of the weekend, edging Miami’s Lauryn Williams by .02 seconds in the 100-meter dash to win event gold with a time of 11.23. Lee’s title in the event marks her third in four meets this season.
In the men’s portion of the competition, the triple jump highlighted the Tigers’ effort, as LSU placed three individuals among the field’s top seven.
Junior LeJuan Simon had a break out meet registering a season best distance of 54-9 1/2 to finish second behind Auburn’s Leevan Sands (55-2). Simon’s mark was over two feet better then his previous season best outdoor effort and even bettered his top indoor of the year by over a foot.
All-American John Moffitt finished behind Simon in third, recording a distance of 53-2 3/4, while senior Traun Smith notched an outdoor best effort of 50-4 1/2 to place seventh.
LSU also sent a group of throwers to the Rice Twilight in Houston, Texas, Saturday. Keeping up the stellar record of outstanding performances this weekend, LSU recorded five regional qualifying marks as senior Keith Nunez led the Tigers and sophomore Mallory McDonald paced the Lady Tiger squad. Nunez posted the seventh-best javelin throw in school history, 218-11, to place third in the event, while McDonald won her second hammer throw competition of the season with a toss of 185-10.
Also turning in a fantastic day for the Lady Tigers was Kellee Monet Rice.
The junior from Tuscaloosa, Ala., posted her first two regional qualifying marks of the year to secure her spot at the national qualifying meet in the hammer (169-0) and shot put (45-11). Sophomore Katie McKeever also saw success in the shot put, placing second overall with a distance of 48-2.
The LSU track and field teams will next be in action on Saturday, May 3, as both the second-ranked Lady Tigers and the sixth-ranked Tigers return home to Baton Rouge to host their final home meet of the season in the Tiger Twilight Classic.