BATON ROUGE — An LSU track and field athlete has been honored by the Southeastern Conference for the second straight week as senior Richard Thompson and sophomore Samantha Henry were named the SEC Runners of the Week on Tuesday.
The duo was recognized for their performance at the Razorback Invitational this past weekend as Thompson earned his second career SEC Male Runner of the Week honor and Henry was named the SEC Female Runner of the Week for the second straight week.
Thompson made history at the Randal Tyson Track Center on Saturday night as he broke his own school record in the 60-meter dash with a blistering time of 6.62 seconds to win the event title.
While making his season debut, the native of Cascade, Trinidad, matched Clemson’s Travis Padgett for the fastest time in the NCAA this season and became the first LSU athlete to qualify automatically for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March. He also moves into a tie for the No. 6 spot in the world in the 60 meters this season.
His previous school record of 6.64 did not even last one calendar year after being set in a runner-up performance at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships in 2007.
Henry, who has now been named the SEC Female Runner of the Week in back-to-back weeks, clocked the fastest 200-meter time in the world this season in her debut as she crossed the finish line in 23.09 to qualify automatically for the NCAA Championships in the event.
The standout from Kingston, Jamaica, beat a pair of All-Americans to the tape for the event title as Texas A&M sophomore Porscha Lucas finished in 23.16 and Lady Tiger senior Kelly Baptiste took third in 23.31. Henry clocked the eighth-fastest indoor 200-meter time in program history as she is now automatically qualified for the NCAA meet in both the 60 and 200 meters.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers are back in action this weekend as they host the LSU Combined Events and Bayou Bengal Invitational at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse on Thursday and Friday.