FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Tiger freshman Jeremy Hicks picked up the third all-conference honor in two days for the LSU track and field team as action from the SEC Outdoor Championships continued Saturday at Arkansas’ John McDonnell Field.
Hicks, a native of Houston, Texas, set the tone early, posting a personal-best jump of 25-10 ? on his first attempt of the day. The mark, a PR by nine and three-quarters of an inch, initially catapulted himself into first place in the overall standings. It held through four and a half rounds of the competition before Florida’s Mike Morrison surpassed it the fifth round with a leap of 26-1. Morrison then improved to 26-1 ? on his final attempt to secure the victory and Hicks’ runner-up status.
“Nothing could make me happier,” LSU head coach Dennis Shaver said on Hicks’ performance. “When you have a good kid that works hard it’s always great to see him be successful.”
With the career-best leap Hicks also cracked the Tigers’ record books as it ranks 10th on LSU’s all-time performance list.
Also picking up some points for the Tigers was Ricky-Jean Francois. The freshman finished seventh in the shot put with a throw of 57-0 ?.
With the combined 10 points scored by Hicks and Jean-Francois the Tigers stand in fourth place in the team standings with 26 points heading in to the final day of competition.
Arkansas leads the men’s team race with 47 points. The Razorbacks are followed by Florida (30) and Tennessee (29) in the top three.
On the women’s side, junior Shaunette Davidson posted the Lady Tigers’ only points of the day, tallying three behind a sixth-place finish in the high jump (5-8 ?).
With six points the Lady Tigers enter the final day of competition in 12th place. Georgia is currently dominating the women’s standings with 88 points, while Arkansas (37), Auburn (35) and Alabama (34.50) are all within three points of each other in second, third and fourth, respectively.
However, both the Tigers and Lady Tigers have positioned themselves well heading into the final day of competition where both squads are expected to pick up the majority of their points.
Saturday alone the Lady Tigers qualified seven athletes into finals competition, while the Tigers added another six qualifiers.
“I feel like everyone that was supposed to advance, did,” said Shaver. “At this point I believe we are doing about as well as we can be.”
The Tigers were dominant in the 400 meters as Reggie Dardar, Xavier Carter and Melville Rogers each advanced and will comprise one-third of tomorrow’s nine-man final. Both Dardar (46.44) and Carter (46.57) earned automatic bids after winning their prelim heats, while Rogers (46.96) advanced on time.
In the 100 meters, senior Kelly Willie and sophomore Richard Thompson qualified with times of 10.44 and 10.50, respectively.
In addition, senior Patrick Gavin moved on in the 1,500 meters after crossing the line in 3:49.22.
For the women, Lady Tiger hurdlers Jessica Ohanaja and Angel Boyd were impressive in their qualifying round heats. Ohanaja turned in the second-fastest time of the day, easily winning her heat in 13.24. Boyd was just off her pace turning in a personal-best of 13.24 to advance with the field’s third-fastest time.
The women also advanced two in the 100 meters. Kelly Baptiste won her heat in 11.38 to automatically qualify, while Brooklynn Morris advanced on time, finishing in 11.62.
In addition, the Lady Tigers qualified two athletes into the 400-meter final. Junior Cynetheia Rooks earned an automatic bid by virtue of finishing first in her heat (53.06), while sophomore Deonna Lawrence qualified on time (52.65).
Action from the SEC Outdoor championships wraps up tomorrow evening with the crowning of both the men’s and women’s team champions.
TEAM STANDINGS
Men
1. Arkansas, 47
2. Florida, 30
3. Tennessee, 29
4. LSU, 26
5. South Carolina, 22
5. Alabama, 22
7. Kentucky, 20
7. Ole Miss, 20
9. Georgia, 9
10. Mississippi State, 6
11. Auburn, 3
Women (After eight scored events)
1. Georgia, 88
2. Arkansas, 37
3. Auburn, 35
4. Auburn, 34.50
5. Mississippi State, 24
6. South Carolina, 18.50
7. Florida, 18
8. Kentucky, 17
9. Ole Miss, 15
10. Vanderbilt, 10
11. Tennessee, 9
12. LSU, 6