FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — All-American John Moffitt added national champion to his resume Friday, winning the long jump competition at the NCAA Indoor Championships at Arkansas’ Randal Tyson Track Center.
Moffitt became just the first man in LSU history to ever win an indoor long jump crown.
“This meet is about placing,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “Anytime you can come in and perform to the best of your ability in this type of situation is a great accomplishment. What John was able to do today was absolutely tremendous.”
Moffitt slipped into the finals in ninth-pace after fouling on his first two attempts and posting a safe distance of 25-2 1/2 of his third attempt.
“Things didn’t feel that good during prelims,” said Moffitt. “I had trouble getting on the board, so I knew I had to make my third jump count. That’s the one that got me into the finals and gave me a little confidence.”
It would be Moffitt’s fifth jump of the day that would clinch him the first NCAA title of his career. The senior from Winnsboro jumped 26-9 3/4 on that attempt to catapult past South Carolina’s Tony Allmond who was leading the competition with a mark of 26-0 1/4.
Moffitt wasn’t the only athlete to score for the Tigers in the long jump. Senior LeJuan Simon picked up a point, earning indoor All-American honors for the first time in his career with a distance of 25-3 1/2.
In the women’s long jump, Nicole Toney also earned All-America accolades, placing eighth with a mark of 19-11 1/2.
On the track, Lolo Jones and Muna Lee’s defense of their NCAA titles in the 60-meter hurdles and the 200 meters, respectively, came up short.
Despite matching her PR and NCAA winning time of 8.00 from last year’s 60 hurdles final, Jones was nipped at the tape by Nebraska’s Priscilla Lopes who clocked 7.96.
Lee finished in fifth in the 200 meter final despite clocking her second-best time of the season, 22.87. In one of the most competitive races of the night, Arkansas’ Veronica Campbell came away with the meet title, clocking a world-leading and collegiate record time of 22.44.
“Those were three of the finest athletes in the world,” said Henry. “Muna had a good race, but she just got beat tonight.”
Also running in the 200 for LSU was senior Stephanie Durst. The Houston native earned her third career All-America honor in the event placing sixth with a season-best time of 23.18.
In preliminary round action, the LSU men and women combined to advance five athletes into tomorrow’s finals.
Senior Neisha Bernard-Thomas started the day with a spectacular run in the 800-meters. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native clocked the second- fastest time in school history and a PR of 2:04.33 to advance to the finals with the field’s second-best time.
The Lady Tigers were tough competition in the 400 meter prelims as All-Americans Hazelann Regis and Nadia Davy both advanced with banked track PRs.
Regis, the NCAA leader in the open quarter, won her heat and finished with the field’s second-best qualifying time, posting a school record mark of 51.80. She was second only to South Carolina’s Lashinda Demus who finished in 51.76.
Davy clocked 52.04, a time that ranks as the second-fastest in Lady Tiger history. Her mark qualifies her as the top seed in section one of the two section final.
In the men’s 400, sophomore Kelly Willie slipped into tomorrow’s final, grabbing the eighth and final spot with a prelim time of 46.45.All-American Pete Coley fell jut short of the finals finishing 10th with a time of 46.56.
Lee will be back in action tomorrow as she attempts to defend her NCAA title in the 60-meter dash. The NCAA leader in the event, Lee qualified to the finals with the field’s fastest prelim time (7.20). “I think we have put ourselves in the position to be successful tomorrow,” said Henry. “Now we just have to lineup and get it done.”
Competition from the 2004 NCAA Indoor Championships will conclude tomorrow, March 13. Action will begin at 11 a.m. with the women’s pentathlon competition. Field events are scheduled to get underway at 2 p.m. and running events will follow at 6:15 p.m.
TEAM STANDINGS (After seven events scored. Top ten only.)
MEN
1, Arkansas, 23. t2, Texas, 21. t2, Florida, 21. 4, Purdue, 13. t5, LSU, 11. t5, UCLA, 11. t7, Ohio State, 10. t7, Ole Mis, 10. t7, Michigan, 10. t7, Kansas, 10.
WOMEN
T1, Florida, 29. t1, UCLA, 29. 3, Georgia, 26. 4, Nebraska, 23.50. t5, LSU, 16. t5, Stanford, 16. 7, Tennessee, 14. t8, Providence, 10. t8, Miami, 10. t8, Arkansas, 10. t8, Texas, 10.
LSU INDIVIDUAL RESULTS
MEN – Place, Time
Long Jump
John Moffitt – 1st, 26-9 3/4
LeJuan Simon – 8th, 25-3 1/2
400 Meters (prelims)
Kelly Willie – 8th, 46.45*
Pete Coley – 10th, 46.56
WOMEN – Place, Time
200 Meters
Muna Lee – 5th, 22.87
Stephanie Durst – 6th, 23.18
60-Meter Hurdles
Lolo Jones – 2nd, 8.00
Long Jump
Nicole Toney – 8th, 19-11 1/2
60-Meter Dash (prelims)
Muna Lee – 1st – 7.20*
400 Meters (prelims)
Hazelann Regis – 2nd, 51.80*
Nadia Davy – 5th, 54.04*
800 Meters (prelims)
Neisha Bernard-Thomas – 2nd, 2:04.33*
* Advanced to Saturday’s final.