ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Former Tiger Jeremy Hicks made a name for himself as one of the elite jumpers in collegiate track and field during his four-year career at LSU, and he is off to a fast start in his professional career after winning the long jump at the 2010 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships on Sunday at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Hicks took the lead early in the competition with a jump of 26-0 ¾ on his third attempt as he finished the series of six jumps in a tie with Jeff Henderson. Hicks earned the crown on the strength of his second best jump of the afternoon at 25-6 ¾, while Henderson fouled each of his other five jumps.
A native of Houston, Texas, Hicks was a four-time All-American in the long jump during his LSU career from 2006-09, including a national runner-up finish at the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships.
Hicks was not the only former LSU standout to shine at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships as Lady Tiger great Lolo Jones finished as the silver medalist in the 60-meter hurdles after running a time of 7.89 seconds in the final. Jones finished just a split-second behind Ginnie Powell of Nike (7.87) in her bid for a fourth-straight U.S. Indoor crown in the 60-meter hurdles.
With her runner-up finish, Jones has now earned the right to represent the United States at the 2010 IAAF World Indoor Championships to be held March 12-14 in Doha, Qatar.
Like Jones, former Tiger standout Ryan Fontenot advanced to the final of the men’s 60-meter hurdles and took fifth place in the race with a personal-best time of 7.67. In fact, Fontenot clocked a new personal best of 7.67 in both the semifinal and final rounds in his first career appearance at the U.S. Indoor meet.