BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s track and field team kicked off the indoor season with a bang Saturday as three Lady Tigers automatically qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships with their performance at the Purple Tiger Classic.
In addition, four LSU athletes opened the season with NCAA provisional qualifying marks and four Lady Tigers set new personal bests in their respective events at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.
“It was a very good meet for us considering this was our first real competition of the season,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “The thing that I liked the most was the competitiveness I saw in both teams across all event areas. The improvement we showed in our performance from this meet last year speaks volumes about where we’re at right now.”
Junior Nickiesha Wilson got the ball rolling for the Lady Tigers by edging teammate and fellow All-American Jessica Ohanaja for the event title in the 60-meter hurdles with an automatic qualifying time of 8.12 seconds in the final heat.
Wilson opened the competition with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 8.31 in the prelims, while Ohanaja clocked a strong provisional qualifying time of her own with an 8.27 in the final.
“I’m actually a little disappointed because I thought I could run a faster time, but I am happy about qualifying. I kind of expected it.” Wilson said. “I decided to stay here over the winter break to prepare myself for a fast start to the season, and I did that today. I showed a lot of improvement and I’m definitely ahead of where I was at this time last year.”
Senior Juanita Broaddus and sophomore Samantha Henry followed Wilson’s lead by clocking NCAA automatic qualifying times of their own in the finals of the 60-meter dash. They matched one another step for step to tie for the event title after crossing the finish line in 7.26.
The duo equaled the fastest time recorded in the NCAA on the young season while also moving into a tie for sixth place on the school’s all-time indoor performance list in the event. Senior Kelly Baptiste took third place in the event with a provisional qualifying time of 7.33 in the final.
“It was actually better than I expected for a first meet.” Henry said. “The first 30 meters set the tone for the rest of the race. I got out fast and executed my race really well. It was too close at the finish line. Juanita also ran a great race.
“We have a lot of outstanding sprinters on this team, and we’re always pushing one another to be the best we can be. It was important for us to come out today and show some improvement on what we opened up with at this meet last year. We did that today, and now we’ve just got to keep pushing each other. There’s always something that needs improving.”
Sophomore standout Katelyn Rodrigue led the charge in the field events by breaking her own indoor school record in the pole vault with a clearance of 12 feet, 11 ? inches.
Rodrigue, who set the previous school record of 12-10 ? at the SEC Championships a year ago, was one of two Lady Tigers to post a provisional mark in the field events as junior Andrea Linton bested the provisional standard by nearly one foot with a mark of 42-5 ? in the triple jump.
“Our depth in the sprints and hurdles on the women’s side is the best I’ve seen in years, but we also have the potential to score some big points in the field events as well this year,” Shaver said. “Katelyn did a great job today. Andrea showed up ready to compete. I just thought we had a great meet all the way around with what we were able to get done across all event areas.”
The Tigers were not without highlights of their own as junior Rabun Fox opened the meet by shattering his own personal best in the weight throw by nearly three feet with a winning mark of 62-1 ? on his second toss. Fox, who sat out the entire 2007 season with an injury, now ranks No. 4 on the school’s all-time performance list following his first competition in nearly two years.
In addition, sophomore John Kosgei led LSU’s effort in the distance events by finishing tops in the mile with a time of 4 minutes, 6.85 seconds, which ranks ninth all-time in school history.
Seniors Drew Haro and James Presley finished 1-2 in the men’s 5,000-meter run with times of 15:21.42 and 15:25.25, respectively. Presley’s clocking was more than a 13-second improvement from his previous personal best in the event.
For the Lady Tigers, senior Katie Dawson clocked a 2:21.16 to win the 800-meter title while teammate and fellow senior Kate Accardo improved her previous personal best and recorded the ninth-fastest time in school history at 10:11.60 to take top honors in the 3,000-meter run.
“We have a few guys who we’re going to bring along slowly, but I really liked what I saw from those who did compete today,” Shaver said. “We’ve got a chance to score some points in some events at the SEC and NCAA meets that maybe we haven’t had in the past. Rabun being back is going to help us, and we might even be able to do some things in the distance events.
“John Kosgei has been a great addition to the team and is a guy who has the potential to score some points for us in the mile and help us in the distance medley relay. He might also be able to help us at some other distances. I’m looking forward to seeing his progression this season.”
The teams look to build momentum next weekend as they make their first of five trips to Fayetteville, Ark., this season where they will compete in the Razorback Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas at the Randal Tyson Track Center beginning Friday.