SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Before lining up for the 100-meter final Friday evening at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, senior Sherry Fletcher had never won an event title in the short sprint in her two-year career in an LSU uniform.
But the native of St. David’s, Grenada, almost single-handedly put the LSU women in position to win their first NCAA outdoor championship since 2003 by winning gold in the 100-meter dash at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium.
Fletcher, who clocked a new personal best time of 11.20 seconds in the final, couldn’t contain her excitement when she crossed the finish line and saw her name pop up first on the scoreboard on the South end of the track ahead of national leader and meet favorite Ebonie Floyd of Houston.
She becomes the fourth Lady Tiger in the program’s storied history to be crowned national champion in the 100 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as she follows in the footsteps of LSU greats Dawn Sowell in 1989, Esther Jones in 1990 and D’Andre Hill in 1994 and 1995.
“I’m so excited right now. I can’t even explain how I feel,” Fletcher said. “I had no idea that I won until I looked up and saw my name on the board. Out in Lane 9, I wasn’t seeing anybody around me. All I could do was focus on my lane and try to get out to a better start than I did in the semis. I was so surprised to see my name come up first on the board.”
On the strength of Fletcher’s performance, the Lady Tigers finished the day with 26 points as they trail only Arizona State and Southern California in the team race. The Sun Devils are in the driver’s seat as they have scored 38 points for the meet, while the Trojans are second with 27.
“It was another great day for both teams, and our athletes competed exceptionally well once again,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “We didn’t really make any mistakes that cost us anything, but it’s still going be difficult to win tomorrow if Arizona State does what they’re supposed to do. All we can do is come out and take care of our business once again.
“I’m proud of Sherry for what she did today. She came to this track meet just hoping to make the final, and then she lines up and wins it. That just shows how hard this team competed today. Her name is now alongside some of the greats that this program has ever seen.”
In addition to her performance in the 100 meters, Fletcher anchored the women’s 4×100-meter relay team to a runner-up finish earlier in the afternoon as the squad clocked a seasonal best time of 43.14. She teamed with Jessica Ohanaja, Samantha Henry and Brooklynn Morris to finish behind the national champion foursome from Texas A&M (43.05).
Ohanaja earned her second All-America honor of the evening with a seventh-place finish in the 100-meter hurdles after clocking a new personal best of 13.01, while teammate Nickiesha Wilson broke 13 seconds in the event as she crossed the finish line in third place with a new PR of 12.93.
The men featured a pair of outstanding performances of their own in the 100-meter dash as sophomore Trindon Holliday finished as the national runner-up and junior Richard Thompson earned his first career individual All-America honor with a fifth-place finish in the event.
Holliday followed his school-record performance of 10.02 in Wednesday’s semifinal round by clocking a time of 10.06 in Friday’s final. The Zachary, La., native took second behind Florida State star Walter Dix, who posted the fastest time in the world this season and the second-fastest time ever by a collegiate athlete at 9.93.
“I got off to a great start and I guess that everyone was feeding off of me,” Holliday said. “I saw Walter coming from the side at about 60 meters. That was an impressive finish by him. I was kind of surprised by my time because it didn’t seem like I was that far behind. I guess I really was.”
Like Fletcher, Holliday anchored the men’s sprint relay team to a second-place finish as he teamed with Jeremy Hicks, Thompson and Marvin Stevenson to carry the stick around the track with a blistering time of 38.85, which is a seasonal best and ranks No. 9 on the school’s all-time performance list.
Holliday got the stick on the last exchange in fourth place and nearly ran down Florida State’s anchor Charles Clark for the event title. The Seminoles took home the sprint relay title as they crossed the finish line with an impressive time of 38.60.
“It’s a little disappointing (to finish second in two events), but you have a lot of great competition out here,” Holliday said. “That happens at a meet like this where you have the best athletes in the country all fighting it out. We all want to be the best, and I’m happy with how we competed.”
Also earning All-America honors for the Tigers during Friday’s action were senior Alleyne Lett in the 110-meter hurdles and sophomore Chad Radgowski in the javelin. Lett finished third in the short hurdles with a time of 13.59, while Radgowski recorded a throw of 225 feet, 11 inches to earn his first career All-America honor in his specialty.
The Tigers finished Friday’s action in third place with 31 points for the meet, while pre-meet favorite Florida State ? the defending outdoor national champion ? sits atop the team standings with 34 points followed by Auburn in second place with 32 points.
Advancing to the finals of their respective specialty events were Wilson and senior Isa Phillips in the 400-meter hurdles, senior Siraj Williams in the 400 meters and junior Andrea Linton in the triple jump. Each will look to score valuable points for LSU’s national title hopes on Saturday.
“All in all, it was a good day for both teams,” Shaver said. “Both sprint relays did a fantastic job of getting the stick around the track, and we had a number of outstanding individual performances today. We also advanced well in the events we were supposed to. Tomorrow is another day, and we need to come out again and compete like we have each day of the track meet.”
All of Saturday’s championship action will be broadcast live to a nationwide audience by CBS from 12-2 p.m. Linton will kick things off for LSU as she is scheduled to compete in the triple jump final at noon, while Phillips is set to get things started on the track in the finals of the 400 hurdles at 12:05 p.m.
NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Results
Friday at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, Calif. (All race distances in meters)
Men’s
100
1. Walter Dix, Florida State, 9.93; 2. Trindon Holliday, LSU, 10.06; 3. Travis Padgett, Clemson, 10.09; 4. Michael LeBlanc, Syracuse, 10.22; 5. Richard Thompson, LSU, 10.24; 6. Michael Ray Garvin, Florida State, 10.30; 7. Greg Bolden, Florida State, 10.30; 8. Orlando Reid, Middle Tennessee State, 10.32.
110 hurdles
1. Tyron Akins, Auburn, 13.42; 2. John Yarbrough, Ole Miss, 13.57; 3. Alleyne Lett, LSU, 13.59; 4. Jeff Porter, Michigan, 13.67; 5. Marlon Odom, Texas Tech, 13.77; 6. Thomas Hilliard, South Carolina, 13.83; 7. Kai Kelley, USC, 13.86; 8. Julius Jiles, Kansas, 13.95.
3,000 steeplechase
1. Barnabas Kirui, Ole Miss, 8:20.36; 2. Andrew Lemoncello, Florida State, 8:27.29; 3. Aaron Aguayo, Arizona State, 8;32.40; 4. Billy Nelson, Colorado, 8:33.33; 5. Corey Nowitzke, Eastern Michigan, 8:34.42; 6. Jan Foerster, Virginia, 8:34.78; 7. Kyle Alcorn, Arizona State, 8:35.71; 8. Luke Gunn, Florida State, 8:37.30.
5,000
1. Chris Solinsky, Wisconsin, 13:35.12; 2. Bobby Curtis, Villanova, 13:39.8; 3. Wesley Korir, Louisville, 13:40.47; 4. Josh McDougal, Liberty, 13:41.03; 5. Tonny Okello, South Alabama, 13:41.08; 6. Obed Mutanya, Arizona, 13:42.81; 7. Forest Braden, Boise State, 13:54.73; 8. David Nightingale, Princeton, 13:55.15.
4×100
1. Florida State, 38.60; 2. LSU, 38.85; 3. Tennessee, 38.86; 4. Oklahoma, 39.43; 5. Middle Tennessee State, 39.78; 6. Colorado, 39.98; 7. Clemson, 40.07; 8. Arizona, 40.13.
High Jump
1. Scott Sellers, Kansas State, 7-7 ?; 2. Andra Manson, Texas, 7-6; 3. Donald Thomas, Auburn, 7-6; 4. Kyle Lancaster, Kansas State, 7-3 ?; 5. Will Littleton, Texas-Pan American, 7-3 ?; t6. Ed Wright, California, 7-2 ?; t6. Dusty Jonas, Nebraska, 7-2 ?; 8. Ivan Diggs, Houston, 7-2 ?.
Pole Vault
1. Thomas Skipper, Oregon, 18-0 ?; 2. Chip Heuser, Oklahoma, 17-10 ?; 3. Mike Landers, UCLA, 17-10 ?; t4. Graeme Hoste, Stanford, 17-6 ?; t4. Mitch Greeley, Clemson, 17-6 ?; t4. Rory Quiller, Binghamton-SUNY, 17-6 ?; 7. Michael Hogue, Tennessee, 17-6 ?; 8. Scott Roth, Washington, 17-6 ?.
Discus
1. Niklas Arrhenius, BYU, 206-2; 2. Michael Robertson, Stanford, 203-8; 3. Wes Stockbarger, Florida, 199-6; 4. Greg Garza, UCLA, 199-4; 5. Adam Kuehl, Arizona, 199-0; 6. Matt Lamb, Washington State, 196-9; 7. Yemi Ayeni, Virginia, 195-9; 8. Jason Schutz, Colorado State, 191-5.
Hammer
1. Jake Dunkleberger, Auburn, 235-9; 2. Nick Owens, North Carolina, 233-7; 3. Cory Martin, Auburn, 231-3; 4. Egor Agafonov, Kansas, 229-2; 5. Adam Midles, USC, 225-0; 6. Martin Bingisser, Washington, 222-1; 7. Eugene Bradley, UC-Santa Barbara, 213-6; 8. Nate Rolfe, Georgia, 213-0.
Javelin
1. Justin Ryncavage, North Carolina, 241-5; 2. Adam Montague, North Carolina, 236-1; 3. Aris Borjas, Cal Poly-SLO, 234-4; 4. Cody Fillinich, Northwestern State, 230-5; 5. Chris Hill, McNeese State, 229-4; 6. Chad Radgowski, LSU, 225-11; 7. Ryan Brandel, Oregon, 225-11; 8. Marc Pallozzi, Albany, 224-5.
TEAM STANDINGS (13 events scored)
1. Florida State, 34; 2. Auburn, 32; 3. LSU, 31; 4. North Carolina, 26; 5. Wisconsin, 22; 6. Oregon, 20; t7. Arizona, 18; t7. Ole Miss, 18; 9. Tennessee, 17; t10. Kansas State, 15; t10. Kansas, 15.
Women’s
100
1. Sherry Fletcher, LSU, 11.20; 2. Ebonie Floyd, Houston, 11.28; 3. Tracy Ann Rowe, Auburn, 11.30; 4. Carol Rodriguez, USC, 11.40; 5. Simone Facey, Texas A&M, 11.41; 6. Alexandria Anderson, Texas, 11.42; 7. Jessica Onyepunuka, USC, 11.46; 8. Chauntae Bayne, Texas, 11.46.
100 hurdles
1. Tiffany Ofili, Michigan, 12.80; 2. Candice Davis, USC, 12.93; 3. Nickiesha Wilson, LSU, 12.93; 4. Fatmata Fofanah, Georgia Tech, 12.96; 5. Queen Harrison, Virginia Tech, 12.98; 6. Ashley Lodree, Washington, 12.99; 7. Jessica Ohanaja, LSU, 13.01; 8. Yvette Lewis, Hampton, 13.07.
3,000 steeplechase
1. Anna Willard, Michigan, 9:38.08; 2. Lindsey Anderson, Weber State, 9:46.48; 3. Barbara Parker, Florida State, 9:48.82; 4. Liz Wort, Duke, 9:51.76; 5. Kassi Andersen, BYU, 9:52.10; 6. Nichole Bush, Michigan State, 9:56.68; 7. Jennifer Barringer, Colorado, 9:59.81; 8. Sariah Long, Weber State, 10:05.22.
5,000
1. Michelle Sikes, Wake Forest, 15:16.76; 2. Sally Kipyego, Texas Tech, 15:24.22; 3. Molly Huddle, Notre Dame, 15:37.65; 4. Julia Lucas, NC State, 15:52.08; 5. Madeline McKeever, Duke, 15:52.83; 6. Teresa McWalters, Stanford, 15:53.89; 7. Alex Becker, Tulsa, 16:00.34; 8. Irene Kimaiyo, Texas Tech, 16:03.08.
4×100
1. Texas A&M, 43.05; 2. LSU, 43.14; 3. USC, 43.69; 4. TCU, 43.84; 5. Oklahoma, 44.30; 6. Tennessee, 44.44; 7. Florida, 44.47.
High Jump
1. Desitnee Hooker, Texas, 6-3 ?; 2. Miruna Mataoanu, Alabama, 6-3 ?; 3. Levern Spencer, Georgia, 6-0; 4. Sharon Day, Cal Poly-SLO, 6-0; 5. Rhonda Watkins, UCLA, 6-0; 6. Inika McPherson, California, 5-10 ?; 7. Peaches Roach, Iowa, 5-10 ?; 8. Kaylene Wagner, Kansas State, 5-10 ?.
Pole Vault
1. April Kubishta, Arizona State, 13-11 ?; 2. Jodi Unger, Arkansas, 13-11 ?; 3. Brysun Stately, Nebraska, 13-7 ?; 4. Elouise Rudy, Montana State, 13-7 ?; t5. Jennie Sewell, Sam Houston State, 13-3 ?; t5. Ashley McCallister, BYU, 13-3 ?; t5. Kate Sultanova, Kansas, 13-3 ?; 8. Ingrid Kantola, UCLA, 13-3 ?.
Discus
1. Kelechi Anyanwu, California, 188-11; 2. Tai Battle, Arizona State, 179-9; 3. Shanna Dickenson, Tennessee, 178-10; 4. Abby Emsick, Kansas, 178-6; 5. D’Andra Carter, Texas Tech, 174-5; 6. Michelle Carter, Texas, 174-0; 7. Dace Ruskule, Nebraska, 169-9; 8. McKenzie Garberg, Washington State, 168-0.
Hammer
Jenny Dahlgren, Georgia, 232-0; 2. Brittany Riley, Southern Illinois, 227-4; 3. Eva Orban, USC, 218-3; 4. Sarah Stevens, Arizona State, 215-8; 5. Britney Henry, Oregon, 214-9; 6. Carrie Johnson, California, 211-0; 7. Veronica Jatsek, Ohio State, 206-2; 8. Amy Haapanen, UC-Santa Barbara, 204-2.
Heptathlon
1. Jacquelyn Johnson, Arizona State, 5,984; 2. Julie Pickler, Washington State, 5,831; 3. Jillian Drouin, Syracus, 5,822; 4. Gaelle Niare, SMU, 5,797; 5. Ashley Selig, Nebraska, 5,794; 6. Ryanne Dupree, UT-San Antonio, 5,773; 7. Bettie Wade, Michigan, 5,724; 8. Gayle Hunter, Penn State, 5,711.
TEAM STANDINGS (12 events scored)
1. Arizona State, 38; 2. USC, 27; 3. LSU, 26; 4. Texas Tech, 23; 5. Michigan, 22; t6. Texas, 17; t6. Georgia, 17; 8. California, 16; 9. UCLA, 15; 10. Texas A&M, 14.