BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field team closed out a very successful Tiger Relays Saturday, picking up seven additional regional qualifiers along the way at the Bernie Moore Track Complex.
“I was real pleased with the efforts that everyone gave,” said head coach Dennis Shaver. “But more importantly, they just act like their expectations of themselves are a little bit higher.”
Expectations were certainly met by LSU’s All-American relay teams. Both the men and women’s 4×100- and 4×400-meter relay teams qualified for the regional meet.
Olympian Kelly Willie, who regionally qualified yesterday in the 100-meter, blazed to a time of 10.25 in the finals today. The mark is good for sixth all-time in LSU history and gives Willie his fifth individual listing in the LSU record book.
Junior Isa Phillips’ time of 51.59 garnered both the 400-meter hurdles crown and a regional spot for the Jamaican native. Phillips, a former NJCAA All-American, eclipsed the regional standard by nearly a full second.
For the women, juniors Sherry Fletcher and Juanita Broaddus both bested the regional bar in the 100-meter dash. Fletcher’s time of 11.65 was good for second with Broaddus following her at 11.70 for third.
Shaunette Davidson cleared 5-8 3/4 in winning the women’s high jump for the Lady Tigers. The junior college transfer passed the regional mark on her second attempt at the height to qualify.
Tiger Ryan Fontenot turned in a time of 14.21 in the 110-meter hurdles. Though the time bests the regional standard, the sophomore’s time will not count because wind gusts exceeded allowable speeds.
Senior Patrick Gavin crossed the finish line with a time of 4.06.66 in the men’s mile. The mark was just .66 of a second off the regional mark.
“This was a great start for us,” said Shaver. “It was a real challenge especially for the people coming off the indoor championship meet.”
The teams will be back in action next week as they take part in the LSU Combined Events and Tiger Classic. Events will begin on Thursday and end on Saturday afternoon.