EUGENE, Ore. — At this time last year, former Lady Tiger star Muna Lee stepped onto the track at historic Hayward Field and shocked the world with her brilliant run in capturing the 100-meter title at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials with a personal best time of 10.85 seconds.
With her performance, Lee earned the right to represent the United States in the event at the 2008 Olympic Games held last summer in Beijing, China.
Lee returned to the Hayward Field track once again on Friday for the final of the 100-meter dash at the 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships and secured her spot on the United States team heading to the IAAF World Championships in Athletics with a runner-up finish in the most exciting race of the weekend through two days of competition.
Lee, who qualified for the 100-meter final after finishing second in her semifinal heat earlier in the day, battled 2009 world leader Carmelita Jeter all the way to the finish line as the duo crushed the rest of the field and stopped the clock with identical wind-aided times of 10.78.
It took a photo finish to separate two of the world’s top sprinters as Jeter was declared the winner by a mere one one-thousandth of a second with Lee coming in second place.
Lee is now assured a spot at the World Championships scheduled to run Aug. 15-23 in Berlin and has qualified for the meet for the second time in her career. She is also in the 200-meter field this weekend at the USA Championships as the first round is set to run on Saturday.
LSU head coach Dennis Shaver is proud of his former pupil as he coached Lee into one of the top sprinters at the collegiate level during her four-year career at LSU from 2001-04.
“We’re very proud of Muna and the tremendous progress she has made over the last couple years to become one of the very best sprinters in the world,” Shaver said. “She is certainly capable for a medal in Berlin as she is running at such a high level. We are very happy for Muna in her success and are certainly very proud to call her one of our own.”
Senior Trindon Holliday saw his bid to represent the United States at this summer’s IAAF World Championships come to an end Friday in the semifinal round of the 100-meter dash as he finished fifth in his heat and ninth overall in his second appearance at the USA Outdoor Championships.
Holliday, the reigning NCAA 100-meter champion, finished fifth in his semifinal heat with a time of 10.03 that was run with the aid of a tailwind measuring 4.0 meters per second.
Holliday’s time of 10.03 was actually the seventh-fastest run during the semifinal round, but only the top-four finishers in each semifinal heat advanced to the final. He finished behind the likes of professionals Michael Rodgers (9.85), Darvis Patton (9.90), Leroy Dixon (10.00) and Monzavous Edwards (10.00) in the first of two semifinal heats.
The 2009 outdoor season was a special one for Holliday as captured his first career NCAA title in the 100-meter dash while running a new personal best of 10.00 in the national final at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
He has now won eight All-America honors on the track during his brilliant career at LSU, and he will now rejoin the LSU football team for the start of the 2009 season in August.
Three former Tiger stars also failed to advance to final-round action in their respective events this weekend. Xavier Carter finished fifth in his semifinal heat of the 400 meters with a time of 45.55, while Jeffrey Fisher finished sixth in his heat of the 800-meter run at 1 minute, 50.47 seconds and Ryan Fontenot took sixth in his heat of the 110-meter hurdles with a windy time of 13.89.
Lady Tiger junior LaTavia Thomas also missed qualifying for the final of the 800-meter run after finishing sixth in her semifinal heat and 12th overall on Friday with a time of 2:05.45.
The third day of competition at the 2009 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships continues for LSU on Saturday at 5:25 p.m. CT as sophomore Walter Henning steps into the hammer throw circle. ESPN will again air live coverage of the meet on Saturday from 6:30-8:30 p.m.