BATON ROUGE — A pair of LSU athletes improved existing NCAA provisional qualifying marks on Friday night as the Tigers and Lady Tigers played host to their regular season finale at the LSU NCAA Indoor Qualifier at the Carl Maddox Field House.
Junior Katelyn Rodrigue kicked off the meet by clearing a seasonal-best height in the women’s pole vault, going up and over the bar at 13 feet, 5 inches to improve her NCAA provisional mark in the event. Rodrigue entered the meet with a seasonal best of 13-1 ? set in a fifth-place finish at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships last weekend.
Moments later, senior Rabun Fox let loose a seasonal-best throw of 65-7 ? in the weight throw to improve his NCAA provisional mark of 64-1 entering the meet. Fox’s performance is also a new personal best and ranks him No. 5 on the school’s all-time performance list in the event.
The meet also marked the 2009 season opener for LSU great Richard Thompson, who recorded a time of 6.61 seconds in his first 60-meter competition of the year.
Thompson is the reigning Olympic silver medalist in the 100-meter dash after clocking a personal best time of 9.89 in the Olympic final in Beijing, China, back in August. He also swept NCAA titles in the 60 meters and 100 meters during his senior season to finish his career among the most decorated sprinters to ever wear the LSU uniform.
Following Friday’s action, the Tigers and Lady Tigers have now combined for five automatic and 25 provisional qualifiers for the NCAA Championships next weekend.
LSU hopes to improve its postseason position again on Saturday as 10 athletes have made the trip to the Lied Athletic Center in Ames, Iowa, to compete in the Cyclone National Qualifier. Each will run in an attempt to improve NCAA provisional qualifying times set earlier this season.
Junior Jamaal James and sophomore Richard Jones will each run the 800 meters, while the men’s and women’s 4×400-meter relay teams will be in action. Armanti Hayes, Jamar Howard, Ade Alleyne-Forte and Robert Simmons will run the men’s relay, while Cassandra Tate, Brittany Hall, Kayann Thompson and LaTavia Thomas will carry the stick for the women.
The indoor season will come to an end next weekend as teams from across the country will meet at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Texas, to compete for the right to be crowned this year’s national champion at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships to be held from March 13-14.