SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Setting the pace for an exciting final two days of competition, the LSU track and field team had a solid second day of competition at the NCAA Championships, advancing 10 athletes and two relay teams Thursday at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.
“We did just about everything we could do today,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “We had some good ups and a couple little downs but we are leaving the track healthy and that’s the key.”
Beginning the qualifying frenzy for LSU was Lady Tiger Neisha Bernard-Thomas in the 800 meters. The junior from Brooklyn, N.Y., automatically advanced to the final round of competition finishing second in her heat with a time 2:04.27.
In the 100 hurdles, Lolo Jones will be making a return trip to the finals after finishing second in her semifinal heat with a time of 13.06. RaNysha LeBlanc just missed an at-large bid in the event, placing 11th overall (13.44).
The 400 meters saw both the Tigers and the Lady Tigers advance two athletes into the semifinals. For the women, Hazelann Regis won her first round heat with a time of 52.25, while Nadia Davy advanced after placing third in her heat with a season-best effort of 52.08. Davy’s mark ranks seventh all-time in the LSU record books.
On the men’s side, Kelly Willie and Pete Coley will both move on to the second round of competition after Willie finished second in his heat with a time of 45.67 and Coley placed third in his race, clocking a season-best 45.98.
Running the first two rounds of the 200-meter dash today, LSU had both Muna Lee and Monique Hall advance to Saturday’s final. Lee, a two-time All-American in the event, turned in the field’s top time in the
semifinals, running 22.80, while Hall finished fourth in her heat and seventh overall, tying her second-best time of the season (23.17). Durst, the NCAA’s third-place finisher in the 200 meters last year, missed qualifying for the event finals after experiencing a tight hamstring during the semifinals and finishing with a time of just 23.91.
In the men’s 200 meters, junior Robert Parham came up just short of making the finals finishing 14th in the second round with a time of 21.13.
Others advancing into final round competition included Bennie Brazell, LeJuan Simon and John Moffitt for the men’s team. Brazell ran a season-best 48.97 in his specialty, the 400-meter hurdles, to finish second in his heat and advance with the third-fastest qualifying mark.
Simon and Moffitt both posted respectable showings in the triple jump to move on with the eight and ninth best qualifying jumps. Simon edged Moffitt in the prelims standings with a jump of 53-5 1/2, while Moffitt, an indoor All-American in the event, recorded a leap of 53-4 1/4.
In the women’s triple jump, Nicole Toney will also advance to the finals. She posted a fourth-place finish in the prelims jumping 43-11 1/4.
In other field event action sophomore Mallory McDonald concluded her season with a 17th-place showing in the hammer (187-9).
Wrapping up the day’s competition, both the men’s and women’s 4×400-meter relay teams posted the last qualifying marks for the LSU squad. The Lady Tiger foursome of Nadia Davy, Neisha Bernard-Thomas, Stephanie Butler and Hazelann Regis easily won their heat with a time of 3:33.41 to earn the automatic berth into the finals, while the men’s team of Pete Coley, Bennie Brazell, Marlon Greensword and Kelly Willie advanced as an at-large selection, finishing third in their heat with a time of 3:05.45.
The LSU track and field team will continue competition from the NCAA Championships tomorrow, June 13. Field events are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. (PST) and running events will follow at 7 p.m.