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Three Athletes Punch NCAA Tickets at Regional

by LSUsports.net (@LSUsports)
Saturday's Start List +0
Three Athletes Punch NCAA Tickets at Regional

COLUMBIA, Mo. — LSU’s Shaunette Davidson, Andrea Linton and Jeremy Hicks each punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships on Friday after posting top-five finishes in their events on the first day of the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships at Walton Stadium.

Davidson kicked off the afternoon for the Lady Tigers by earning a fourth-place finish in the women’s high jump with a clearance of 5 feet, 9 ? inches, marking her second-best jump of the season after clearing 5-10 ? at the Penn Relays on April 28.

“Shaunette gave us a great start to the meet today with what she did,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver, “I don’t even think she was projected to come out of this region, and that says a lot about the way she competed today. I’m proud of her for stepping up big as a senior.”

Both Hicks and Linton will be making a return trip to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Sacramento next month after wrapping up the evening by taking fourth and fifth place, respectively, in the long jump.

Hicks was in ninth place with one jump to go in the competition and stepped up big on his last attempt with a mark of 24-9 ?, while Linton lined up in the final and secured the fifth and final automatic bid to the NCAA meet with a leap of 19-6 ?.

“Those two are showing that they’re ready to jump well at the right time of the season,” Shaver said. “The conditions were very tough on all of our kids today. It seemed like every race we ran that was a sprint race or any time our jumpers lined up for a jump it was into a big headwind. I’m proud of the way they fought through it and got the job done.”

The Lady Tigers enjoyed a successful day of qualifying on Friday as they will enter the final day of the competition in position to win their fourth NCAA Mideast Regional title after advancing an impressive total of 12 athletes into Saturday’s action.

LSU is the only squad in the field to qualify three athletes into the final of both the 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles. Sherry Fletcher (11.50), Kelly Baptiste (11.64) and Samantha Henry (11.69) will run in the final of the 100, while Jessica Ohanaja (13.26), Nickiesha Wilson (13.36) and Angel Boyd (13.46) lead the way in the sprint hurdles.

Henry (23.15) and Fletcher (23.21) are also set to compete in the final of the 200-meter dash, while Wilson (57.53) will run in the final of the 400 hurdles. Deonna Lawrence (53.38) moved on in the 400, and Tanya Osbourne (2:06.21) and LaTavia Thomas (2:07.84) advanced in the 800.

The Tigers saw six qualifiers of their own in Friday’s action, including Trindon Holliday (10.35) in the 100, Siraj Williams (46.30) in the 400, Reuben Twijukye (1:48.97) in the 800, Alleyne Lett (13.85) and Ryan Fontenot (14.16) in the 110 hurdles, and Isa Phillips in the 400 hurdles (50.54).

In addition to LSU’s 18 individual qualifiers, both the men’s and women’s 400-meter relay teams qualified for Saturday’s final with the second-fastest preliminary times of the afternoon.

Hicks and Holliday teamed with junior Richard Thompson and senior Marvin Stevenson to qualify with a time of 39.66, while the Lady Tiger foursome of Ohanaja, Henry, junior Brooklynn Morris and Fletcher carried the stick around the track in a time of 44.16.

“Overall, I was pleased with the way we performed today despite the difficult conditions on the track,” Shaver said. “We clearly advanced almost all of the individuals and relays that were projected to score points at the NCAA meet. They will have that opportunity to line up and take that next step in the finals tomorrow.

“There were also a few I was particularly pleased with, like Ryan Fontenot. The guy just lines up and gives it everything he has every time he steps on the track. He’ll score for us for the first time at this meet and have a chance to move on to Sacramento. It’s good to see his hard work pay off.”

Freshman Kim Williams will kick off Saturday’s action for LSU as she will compete in the hammer throw at 11 a.m., while the afternoon’s first running events are slated to begin at 4 p.m. The competition will conclude with the running of the women’s 4×400 relay at 7:20 p.m.

NCAA Mideast Regional Championships Results
Friday at Audrey J. Walton Stadium in Columbia, Mo. (All race distances in meters)

Men’s

5,000
1. Chris Solinsky, Wisconsin, 14:00.71; 2. Tim Nelson, Wisconsin, 14:02.64; 3. James Strang, Arkansas, 14:03.01; 4. Patrick Smyth, Notre Dame, 14:03.10; 5. Tonny Okello, South Alabama, 14:03.32; 6. Wesley Korir, Louisville, 14:04.65; 7. Chris Barnicle, Arkansas, 14:06.01; 8. Emmanuel Bor, Alabama, 14:07.07.

Pole Vault
1. Jeremy Brading, Kent State, 17-1; 2. Andrew Zollner, Illinois, 16-7 ?; 3. Blake Burkholder, Indiana, 16-7 ?; 4. Eric Sparks, 16-7 ?; 5. Michael Hogue, Tennessee, 16-7 ?; 6. Brad Gebauer, McNeese State, 16-7 ?; t7. Brandon Banda, Arkansas State, 16-1 ?; t7. John Porter, Purdue, 16-1 ?.

Long Jump
1. Tone Belt, Louisville,24-10 ?; 2. Justin Gunn, Ole Miss, 24-10 ?; 3. Charles Bailey, Ole Miss, 24-9 ?; 4. Jeremy Hicks, LSU, 24-9 ?; 5. Juan Walker, Middle Tennessee State, 24-8 ?; 6. Andre Black, Louisville, 24-6 ?; 7. Scott Mayle, Ohio, 24-3 ?; 8. Carlos Morgan, Middle Tennessee State, 24-1 ?.

Discus
1. Arthur Turland, Louisville, 183-0; 2. John Harper, Kent State, 181-1; 3. Auston Papay, Akron, 180-2; 4. Brandon Cook, Louisville, 177-9; 5. Nick Gretz, UW-Milwaukee, 177-1; 6. Eric Werskey, Indiana, 176-6; 7. Steven Boozer, Alabama, 176-3; 8. Teremaine White, Southeastern La., 176-0.

Hammer
1. Cory Martin, Auburn, 226-7; 2. Jake Dunkleberger, Auburn, 224-2; 3. Andy Nicholas, Kent State, 218-2; 4. Steffen Nerdal, Memphis, 211-10; 5. Jaroslaw Zakrzewski, Kent State, 205-1; 6. Jason Morris, Missouri, 201-3; 7. Tyler Dailey, Missouri, 201-3; 8. David Ebersole, Ohio State, 198-10.

TEAM STANDINGS (5 events scored)
1. Louisville, 31; 2. Kent State, 28; t3. Wisconsin, 18; t3. Auburn, 18; 5. Ole Miss, 14; 6. Indiana, 9; t7. Illinois, 7; t7. Arkansas, 7; 9. Purdue, 6.5; 10. Akron, 6; t11. LSU, 5.

Women’s

5,000
1. Molly Huddle, Notre Dame, 16:02.56; 2. Lauren Blankenship, Samford, 16:17.77; 3. Erin Webster, Michigan, 16:18.64; 4. Hanna Grinaker, Wisconsin, 16:24.45; 5. Kathleen Turchin, UT-Chattanooga, 16:25.27; 6. Christine Kalmer, Arkansas, 16:27.31; 7. Alissa McKaig, Michigan State, 16:27.32; 8. Carmen Mims, Vanderbilt, 16:29.59.

High Jump
1. Miruna Mataoanu, Alabama, 6-2 ?; 2. Raevan Harris, Auburn, 6-1 ?; 3. Bettie Wade, Michigan, 5-11 ?; 4. Shaunette Davidson, LSU, 5-9 ?; 5. Renee Hein, 5-9 ?; 6. Natalie Sako, Akron, 5-9 ?; 7. Santia Spight, Indiana State, 5-9 ?; t8. Marcia Faustin, Loyola-Ill., 5-7 ?; t8. Chen Edri, Memphis, 5-7 ?; t8. Anna Marie Ricciardi, East Tennessee State, 5-7 ?.

Long Jump
1. Brittney Reese, Ole Miss, 21-0 ?; 2. Tanika Liburd, Southern Mississippi, 20-9 ?; 3. April Williams, Toledo, 19-10 ?; 4. Stephanie Tamgho, Middle Tennessee State, 19-7; 5. Andrea Linton, LSU, 19-6 ?; 6. Peter-Gaye Beckford, Arkansas, 19-6; 7. Ashley Wilhelm, Cincinnati, 19-6; 8. Leah Kincaid, Purdue, 19-5 ?.

Shot Put
1. Gail Lee, Memphis, 53-1 ?; 2. Krishna Lee, Missouri, 52-0 ?; 3. Kristalyn Mauch, Western Michigan, 51-7 ?; 4. Ashley Morrow, Northern Illinois, 50-9 ?; 5. Stacey Wannemacher, Purdue, 50-2 ?; 6. Shaterika Allen, Louisiana Tech, 49-5 ?; 7. Bahiyjaui Allen, Ohio, 49-5 ?; 8. Kayla Schultz, 49-0 ?.

Javelin
1. Lindsey Blaine, Purdue, 170-11; 2. Carly Bloomfield, Arkansas, 160-7; 3. Hana Prudilova, Southern Mississippi, 153-6; 4. Peter-Gaye Beckford, Arkansas, 153-1; 5. Betsy Baldwin, Southeastern La., 152-5; 6. Mariesa Greene, Illinois, 149-10; 7. Marlee Kevech, Ole Miss, 147-4; 8. Holly Geibel, Louisville, 145-5.

TEAM STANDINGS (5 events scored)
1. Arkansas, 19; 2. Purdue, 15; 3. Southern Mississippi, 14; t4. Michigan, 12; t4. Ole Miss, 12; 6. Memphis, 10.33; t7. Notre Dame, 10; t7. Alabama, 10; 9. LSU, 9; t10. Auburn, 8; t10. Samford, 8; t10. Missouri, 8.