SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A collegiate record in the decathlon discus throw proved to be the launch pad to All-America honors for Alleyne Lett who finished seventh in the men’s decathlon Thursday evening at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Sitting in fifth-place after six events Lett’s record toss of 174-10 garnered the St. David’s, Grenada, native 939 points which propelled him to second in the overall standings.
The mark was a two foot improvement on the previous record of 172-10 set by Tennessee’s Brian Brophy in 1991.
Lett’s success continued through the final three events where he matched his personal best in the pole vault (12-1 1/2) and turned in a lifetime-best 4:56.79 in the 1,500 meters to hold on to a top-eight finish and garner All-American honors for the first time in his career.
“I knew I had it in me,” said Lett. “(Assistant) coach (Boo Schexnayder) told me after the SEC Championships I had it in me. I just had to prove to him I could do it.”
Lett, who was competing in just the fourth decathlon of his career, finished the two-day competition with 7,476 points.
“I was extremely happy with him today,” said Schexnayder, who serves as LSU’s and multi-event and jumps coach. “His score was down after yesterday, but that had a lot to do with the (rainy) weather.
“He came back with that throw in the discus and then ran a PR (personal record) in the 1,500, an event he doesn’t have a lot of confidence in. So he competed well, and he really became a man today.”
On the track, LSU turned in another successful day of competition in the qualifying rounds.
Freshman Xavier Carter breezed through the prelim and semifinal rounds of the men’s 200 meters to advance to Saturday’s final. The SEC and Mideast Region champion won his first round heat in 20.50 before moving through the semis in 20.14.
“Xavier ran smart tonight,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “The idea was to get through. I told him he needed to be first or second in order to secure a good lane for the finals and he did that.”
Carter then teamed with Bennie Brazell, Reginald Dardar and Kelly Willie in the 4×400-meter relay to help move the Tigers into the finals. The foursome won their prelim heat posting the third fastest time of the evening (3:03.08).
A day after qualifying to the finals in the women’s 100 meters, freshman Kelly Baptiste returned to the track in the 200 and earned a second trip to the finals. The Tobago native clocked 23.36 in the first round and improved to 23.23 in the semis to secure the at-large bid.
“She just keeps advancing,” said Shaver. “As a freshman she’s made every final in every event she has entered, plus the relay, so I really can’t ask for anymore than that.”
In addition, senior Bennie Brazell easily made it through the first round of the men’s 400-meter hurdles, winning his heat in 50.45.
Action from the NCAA Championships and the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex will continue Friday. Field events kick off competition at 2 p.m. (CT). Running events follow at 8:30 p.m.
All times Central
Men’s 200 Meters – Round 1
1. Wallace Spearmon (Arkansas), 20.35Q
3. Xavier Carter (LSU), 20.50Q
Men’s 200 Meters – Semifinals
1. Tyson Gay (Arkansas), 19.93Q
3. Xavier Carter (LSU), 20.14Q
Men’s 400 Meter Hurdles – Round 1
1. Kerron Clement (Florida), 49.13Q
3. Bennie Brazell (LSU), 50.45Q
Men’s 4×400 Relay – Round 1
1. Texas Tech, 3:01.69Q
2. LSU (Brazell, Carter, Dardar, Willie), 3:03.08Q
Men’s Decathlon
Final Standings
1. Trey Hardee (Texas), 7881
7. Alleyne Lett (LSU), 7476
Thursday’s Events
Event #6 – 110 Meter Hurdles
1. Trey Hardee (Texas), 14.09
2. Mustafa Abdur-Rahim (Dartmouth), 14.35
3. Alleyne Lett (LSU), 14.36
Event #7 – Discus
1. Alleyne Lett (LSU), 174-10 (939 pts.)
2. Hans Uldal (Missouri), 159-4 (841 pts.)
Event #8 – Pole Vault
1.?Donovan Kilmartin (Texas), 16-4 3/4 (910 pts.)
18. Alleyne Lett (LSU), 12-1 1/2 (535 pts.)
Event #9 – Javelin
1.?Nathan Brown?(Wisconsin), 194-11 (729 pts.)
7. Alleyne Lett (LSU), 184-5 (681 pts.)
Event #10 – 1,500 Meters
1. Andy Young (Oregon), 4:16.91 (833 pts.)
17. Alleyne Lett (LSU), 4:56.79 (578 pts.)
Event #1 – 100 Meter Dash
1. Trey Hardee (Texas), 10.86 (892 pts.)
2. Mustafa Abdur-Rahim (Dartmouth), 10.96 (870 pts.)
3. Michael Bingham (BYU), 11.09 (841 pts.)
4. Andrew Levin (Montana), 11.19 (819 pts.)
5. Alleyne Lett (LSU), 11.25 (806 pts.)
Event #2 – Long Jump
1. Donovan Kilmartin (Texas), 24-6 1/2 (930 pts.)
2. Alleyne Lett (LSU), 23-10 1/2 (878 pts.)
Event #3 – Shot Put
1. William Thomas (Connecticut), 50-0 3/4 (806 pts.)
2. Alleyne Lett (LSU), 49-1 3/4 (788 pts.)
Event #4 – High Jump
1. Donovan Kilmartin (Texas), 6-9 (859 pts.)
23. Alleyne Lett (LSU), 5-8 (569 pts.)
Event #5 – 400 Meters
1. Trey Hardee (Texas), 48.33 (893 pts.)
11. Alleyne Lett (LSU), 50.92 (773 pts.)
Women’s 200 Meters – Round 1
1. Shalonda Soloman (South Carolina), 23.00Q
6. Kelly Baptiste (LSU), 23.36Q
Women’s 200 Meters – Semifinals
1. Shalonda Soloman (South Carolina), 22.83Q
9. Kelly Baptiste (LSU), 23.23q
Women’s 4×400 Relay – Round 1
1. South Carolina, 3:29.79Q
14. LSU (Morris, Francis, Osbourne, Lawrence), 3:36.37