Evening Release
AUSTIN, Texas — The Lady Tigers sprint-medley relay set a new top-ten mark late Friday night at the 79th Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
The time of 3:46.79 moved the foursome of Brooklynn Morris, Kelly Baptiste, Deonna Lawrence and Tanya Osborne into seventh place all-time. LSU finished in second in the event, barely being nipped at the line by Baylor.
The rarely ran event incorporates two legs of 200-meters, a leg of 400-meters and finishes off with an 800-meter leg to equal a mile.
The men’s sprint medley relay completed the unique event in a time of 3:21.91, good for eighth overall.
Events will continue tomorrow, beginning at 11 a.m. with the men’s high jump. Live meet results can be viewed at www.texassports.com.
Afternoon Release
AUSTIN, Texas — LSU’s track and field team advanced three competitors and three relay teams to Saturday’s championship finals against a field of the nation’s best competition at the 79th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays on Friday.
“We really got everything done this morning that I felt like we came here to do,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver.
Both the men and women’s 4×100-meter relay squads advanced to Saturday’s finals. The women will be seeded second in tomorrow’s finals while the men sit in third. The men have won this event the last two years in Austin and will be looking to defend that title.
“We won our heats,” said Shaver. “Now the big thing is lining up tomorrow and doing things a little better.”
The women’s 4×400-meter relay team hopes to defend its season long undefeated streak Saturday. The quartet advanced to the finals with a time of 3:31.91, winning their heat by six seconds.
LSU’s first individual qualifier came late Thursday night as Isa Phillips advanced in the men’s 400-meter hurdles. The junior won his heat in a time of 51.31, a seasonal best mark for the Tigers. With that time, Phillips moved into ninth place all-time in LSU history.
All-American Kelly Willie won his heat with a time of 10.42, guaranteeing him a spot in the men’s 100-meters finals. The Olympian will be seeded second heading into the finals.
In the field for the Tigers, Ricky Jean-Francois tossed a regional qualifying mark of 58-8 in the men’s shot-put. The mark gave the LSU freshman a second place finish in the event.
Lady Tiger Jessica Ohanaja turned in a season best time of 13.23 in advancing to the finals of the women’s 100-meter hurdles. Sophomore Angel Boyd turned in a regional qualifying mark of 13.67, just missing advancing to tomorrow’s finals by .08 seconds.
“That’s why you come to a meet like this,” continued Shaver. “You see if they can really think for themselves out there and for the most part today they’ve made good adjustments.”
Lady Tiger Shaunette Davidson improved on her seasonal best in the women’s high jump, clearing the bar at 5-10. The height ties her for eighth all-time in LSU history.
Sophomore Kathryn Coleman leapt to a mark of 20-6 1/2 in the women’s long jump, a new personal best. The transfer from the Ohio Valley Conference finished in third place on the day.
Competition concludes tomorrow from Mike A. Myers Stadium. In addition to the individuals and relays advancing today, LSU will also have representatives in the distance medley relay, the individual mile, and the men’s invitational 4×400-meter relay. Live results can be viewed at www.texassports.com.