BATON ROUGE — The opening day of the seventh-annual LSU Relays was a successful one for the LSU track and field teams as the Tigers and Lady Tigers combined for 12 new qualifiers for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships on Friday at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
The 2009 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships are set to run May 29-30 as the University of Louisville will play host to the event at Cardinal Park Stadium.
After opening up the outdoor season at the Louisiana Classics in Lafayette last weekend, LSU has now qualified a total of 18 entries into the regional meet between the men’s and women’s teams.
“This was a great way for us to start the LSU Relays,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “We were fortunate that the weather held up for us and we were able to run all of the events as planned coming into the day. I thought our teams competed extremely well and got some things done.”
Senior All-American Jeremy Hicks led the way with an outstanding performance in his first long jump competition of the outdoor season, jumping a wind-legal distance of 26 feet, 1 ? inches on his very first attempt of the evening to take the event title and qualify for the regional meet.
Hicks has caught fire during his senior season after earning his second career All-America honor in the long jump with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 13. Hicks set a new overall personal best of 26-3 ? at the national meet as it marked the first time setting an overall personal best of more than 26 feet in his LSU career.
His effort on Friday is a new outdoor personal best and moves him into a tie for No. 8 on the LSU all-time outdoor performance list in the long jump.
Sophomore Brittani Carter kicked off her outdoor season where she left off at the NCAA Indoor Championships two weeks ago by equaling her lifetime best clearance of 6-0 to win the women’s high jump competition. Carter earned her first career All-America honor with a third-place finish in the event after clearing 6-0 for the first time indoors at the NCAA Indoor meet.
Carter not only qualified for the regional meet with her performance on Friday afternoon, but also moved into the No. 4 spot on the Lady Tigers’ all-time outdoor performance list in the high jump.
“Last year was just not a very good year for either Jeremy or Brittani, quite honestly, but they are really having an outstanding season for us this year,” Shaver said. “They are coming off of a great indoor season as All-Americans, and I think the thing that’s been so big for them is consistency. I think they’ve shown that this year and have proven that they can step up for us in the big meets.”
Both of LSU’s 4×100-meter relay teams also enjoyed an outstanding season opener Friday as they easily qualified for Saturday’s final with a pair of NCAA regional qualifying times.
The Lady Tigers were the first to step onto the track and advanced with the second-fastest time of the preliminary round as junior Kristina Davis, freshman Cassandra Tate, junior Samantha Henry and sophomore Kenyanna Wilson clocked a regional qualifying time of 43.84 seconds. The finals of the women’s 4×100-meter relay are set to run Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Tigers followed with a regional qualifying time of their own in the 4×100-meter relay as Hicks, junior Will Coppage, sophomore Gabriel Mvumvure and senior Trindon Holliday were the fastest foursome of the preliminary round after carrying the stick around the track in 39.36.
“I was actually a little surprised with the times they ran because we haven’t put much emphasis on running that event yet this year,” Shaver said. “I would be lying if I said otherwise. I’m really looking forward to seeing what both sprint relays can do tomorrow when they get to run against a few very good teams in what is sure to be a competitive final.”
In addition to qualifying for the regional meet as a member of LSU’s sprint relay teams, two LSU athletes earned a postseason berth while competing in individual events during Friday’s action.
Henry was the fastest qualifier for the final of the women’s 100-meter dash by clocking a time of 11.37 in the preliminary round of her first outdoor race of the season. Wilson followed with the second-fastest prelim time of the afternoon with a regional qualifying effort of 11.40.
A trio of hammer throwers opened the meet in the morning session with their first regional qualifying throws of the 2009 season. Freshman Michael Lauro unleashed a new personal best of 200 feet, 9 inches to finish runner-up in the men’s hammer and move himself into the No. 6 spot on LSU’s all-time performance list in his outdoor debut for the Tigers.
Senior Rabun Fox followed Lauro with a third-place finish in the event with a regional qualifying throw of 189-6, while junior Kim Williams took third place in the women’s hammer with a mark of 187-3 to qualify for the NCAA Mideast Regional in her second competition of the season.
Other regional qualifiers during Friday’s action included Tenaya Jones in the 100 hurdles (13.89), Barrett Nugent in the 110 hurdles (14.24) and Zedric Thomas in the long jump (24-9 ?).
Thomas actually earned a runner-up finish in the men’s long jump with a jump of 24-10 ?, but a wind of 4.1 meters per second was more than the allowable limit for qualification into the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships. However, he recorded a wind-legal jump and new outdoor PR of 24-9 ? on his very first jump of the preliminary round.
Saturday’s action at the seventh-annual LSU Tiger Relays is slated to kick off at 9 a.m. with the first field events of the day, followed by the first events on the track beginning at 11 a.m. The meet will conclude at 5 p.m. with the running of the men’s collegiate 4×400-meter relays.
LSU’s Qualifiers for the 2009 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships (as of March 27)
MEN
Name, Event, Mark/Time
Chris Bless, Hammer Throw, 189-4
Rabun Fox, Hammer Throw, 189-6
Jeremy Hicks, Long Jump, 26-1 ?
Michael Lauro, Hammer Throw, 200-9
Barrett Nugent, 110 hurdles, 14.24
Gabriel Mvumvure, 100 meters, 10.43w
Gabriel Mvumvure, 200 meters, 21.15
Zedric Thomas, Long Jump, 24-9 ?
Hicks, Coppage, Mvumvure, Holliday; 4×100 Relay; 39.36 (1st-prelims)
WOMEN
Name, Event, Mark/Time
Brittani Carter, High Jump, 6-0
Samantha Henry, 100 meters, 11.37
Tenaya Jones, 100 hurdles, 13.89
Anna Lyons, Javelin, 157-3
Katelyn Rodrigue, Pole Vault, 13-1 ?
Cassandra Tate, 200 meters, 23.96
Kim Williams, Hammer Throw, 187-3
Kenyanna Wilson, 100 meters, 11.40
Davis, Tate, Henry, Wilson; 4×100 Relay; 43.84 (2nd-prelims)