BATON ROUGE, La. – All-American Nicole Toney turned in an NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the triple jump Saturday, highlighting a fine day of performances by the top-ranked LSU track and field team at the Purple Tiger Invitational.
Toney led all jumpers in the event, recording a distance of 43-8 1/2.
“This facility is good for jumping and I think we were able to take advantage of that,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “Nicole really turned in a big- time jump today.”
LSU also had three other athletes reach NCAA provisional qualifying standards.
Hurdler RaNysha LeBlanc led the Lady Tigers’ 1-2-3 finish of the 60-meter hurdles, winning the race in 8.43, while thrower Mallory McDonald won the weight throw with a season-best 63-7 3/4.
For the men, LeJuan Simon reached provisional standards in the long jump. Simon, who automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in the triple jump last week, topped all collegiate competitors with a distance of 25-7/2.
Lolo Jones missed a provisional mark in the 60-meter dash by one hundredth of a second, clocking 7.45 in the prelims, before winning the finals in 7.50. Paul Thompson completed the LSU sweep in the event, winning the men’s final in 6.86.
Other event titles for the LSU included Nadia Davy in the 200 meters (24.31), Katie McKeever in the shot put (49-4 1/4) and the men’s 4×400 (3:17.88) and distance medley relay (10:12.21) teams.
The LSU track and field team returns to action Friday when it hosts the Bayou Bengal Invitational at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.