BATON ROUGE — LSU’s track and field team gained four regional qualifiers Friday, as All-Americans Kelly Willie and Jessica Ohanaja in addition to long jumpers Jeremy Hicks and Kathryn Coleman all bested the regional standard in their first events of the outdoor season.
Willie, a senior for LSU, sprinted to a heat and field best time of 10.42 in the 100-meter preliminaries. The Houston native will be joined tomorrow in the finals by fellow Tigers Richard Thompson (10.61) and Amel Alexander (10.84).
Long jumper Hicks leapt to a distance of 24-5, clearing the regional mark by four inches. In addition to picking up the long jump crown, the mark is also a personal best for the freshman stand-out.
For the Lady Tigers, Ohanaja’s regional qualifying time of 13.45 easily leads the field into tomorrow’s final for the 100-meter hurdles. The mark is a new personal best for the All-American and was a half a second better than any other competitor. Angel Boyd (14.25) sits in third after the preliminaries and will join Ohanaja tomorrow for the conclusion of the event.
Coleman’s long jump mark of 19-7 landed her exactly on the regional qualifying mark. The former Ohio Valley Conference long jump champion finished second in her event, followed by another Lady Tiger, Tina Harris (19-3 1/4).
“This is a real important part of the year,” said head coach Dennis Shaver. “You’re hoping for some of the development kids to pick it up a little and so they can help you at the SEC meet.”
The Lady Tigers also advanced three in the women’s 100-meter dash to tomorrow’s finals. Leading the way for LSU was junior Sherry Fletcher with a time of 11.89, good for second heading into the finals. Also running tomorrow for LSU will be Jaunita Broaddus (12.0) and Tiaerra McLaurin (12.19).
The women’s 1,600-meter sprint medley relay team picked up the crown in the rarely ran event. The foursome of Brooklynn Morris, Kelly Baptiste, Deonna Lawrence, and Meisue Francis finished the combination of two 200-meter legs, a 400-meter lap, and an 800-meter leg in 3:50.44.
In the field for LSU, freshman Anna Lyons tossed a regional qualifying mark in the javelin for the second straight week. Her throw of 145-11 was good for sixth in the event. Pat Perrien’s throw of 201-10 in the men’s javelin just missed the qualifying distance by three inches.
Events will resume Saturday at 9 a.m. from the Bernie Moore Track Complex. In addition to those advancing today, several of LSU’s All-American relay teams will be in action tomorrow as well as the remaining field events.