BOISE, Idaho — Five NCAA automatic qualifying marks and an additional 10 provisional times highlighted an outstanding day of competition by the LSU track and field team at the United Heritage Invitational Saturday.
LSU dominated the triple jump as senior LeJuan Simon led the Tigers to a 1-2-3 finish in the event with a meet-winning distance of 54-6 ? and senior Nicole Toney claimed the women’s title with a season-best 43-10 3/4.
Simon’s PR mark is the best in the NCAA this season and ranks as the third best indoor distance in Tiger history.
Junior Willie Bradley and senior John Moffitt completed the Tigers’ sweep in the event, finishing second and third, respectively, with provisional marks of 53-5 ? and 52-4.
All-American Daniel Trosclair shattered his PR in the pole vault for the second time this season, clearing 18-1 to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships and finish third individually.
In the running events, LSU’s two automatic qualifying marks came from Lady Tigers Muna Lee and Hazelann Regis.
Lee, the defending national champion in the 200 meters, advanced to the national meet by topping the field with a time of 23.43.
Regis earned first-place honors as well, winning the 400 meters with a season-best mark of 52.88.
Making her season debut in the 800 meters, All-American Neisha Bernard-Thomas toppled the field, winning the race by over five full seconds to finish with a provisional time of 2:06.59.
Sprinter Tania Woods turned in solid day of competition, recording runner-up finishes in both the 60 and 200-meter dashes with provisional times of 7.42 and 23.81, respectively.
Senior Stephanie Durst also reached provisional standards in the 200 meters, finishing fourth with a time of 23.89.
On the men’s side, Robert Parham recorded a season-best and provisional time of 21.13 in the 200 meters, while Kelly Willie clocked 46.97 in the 400 meters to also qualify provisionally.
Willie then joined with junior Bennie Brazell, senior Pete Coley and freshman Siraj Williams to post the Tigers’ first provisional time of the season in the 4×400-meter relay. The foursome clocked 3:08.28 to finish second overall.
The women’s 4×400, made up of Neisha Bernard-Thomas, Monique Hall Brittany Harris and Hazelann Regis also reached provisional standards, winning the race in 3:08.28.
The LSU track and field team returns to action this next weekend when it travels to New York for the prestigious Armory Invitational, Feb. 13-14.