PHILADELPHIA — A “Championship of America” relay win by the LSU men’s 4×100 team capped an outstanding weekend of competition at the 111th-annual Penn Relays on Saturday.
In front of more than 25,000 attendees at famed Franklin Field, the Tiger foursome of Richard Thompson, Xavier Carter, Kelly Willie and Bennie Brazell kicked off the day’s competition by clocking an astounding 39.06 in the short relay despite rain-soaked and windy conditions.
The title marked the fourth in program history for the Tigers at Penn and the first since the 1995 season.
“The thing that impressed me the most was that they were able to run that fast in these conditions,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “Xavier really opened the race up for us. He is a freshman, but he sure doesn’t run like it. I think part of that is attributed to the fact that he plays football on Saturday nights in Tiger Stadium. He’s used to a crowd like this and it doesn’t faze him.”
Just more than an hour later, Carter, Brazell and Willie returned to the track with Reginald Dardar to post a runner-up finish in the 4×200-meter relay. The foursome clocked the second fastest time in school history, 1:21.06, but were edged by Florida (1:20.94) at the tape.
The Lady Tigers also turned in a second-place finish in the 4×200 as they came up just shy of a fifth-consecutive Penn Relays’ title in the event. Freshman Ashley Owens, Deonna Lawrence, Brooklyn Morris and Kelly Baptiste finished second to SEC foe South Carolina with a time of 1:32.77. The Gamecocks’ won in 1:31.57.
“I was going to be happy if this group ran 1:33 flat in good conditions,” said Shaver. “For them to run under that in this type of weather really shows the outstanding effort they put forth today.”
Sophomore Alleyne Lett finished third with a time of 13.84 behind conference foes Josh Walker of Florida and Jason Richardson of South Carolina in the men’s 110-meter hurdles. Freshman Kelly Baptiste finished third in the women’s 100 with a time of 11.44.
“Today Alleyne didn’t have quite as good a start as yesterday, but the condition weren’t nearly as good as they were yesterday,” said Shaver. “Alleyne has put together two of the fastest times he has ever run legal or not here this weekend. I am happy with the fact that he is consistent in the times that he is running.”
In the 4×400-meter relays, Morris and Lawrence teamed up with Tanya Osbourne and Brittany Harris to finish second running in a heavy down pour in the women’s college division with a time of 3:36.78. For the men, Willie, Brazall, and Dadar were joined by Austin Benton to finish four in the men’s 4×400 with a time of 3:04.95.
The Tigers will have next weekend off to prepare for finals before heading to Nashville, Tenn. the following weekend for the SEC Championships May 12-15.