BATON ROUGE – Athletes looking to improve their qualifying performances for next week’s NCAA Indoor Championships used Friday’s LSU NCAA Indoor Qualifier as a springboard into the competition, and the Tigers and Lady Tigers certainly took advantage of their opportunity with five athletes improving their provisional qualifying marks for the 2010 season.
LSU head coach Dennis Shaver said that he was pleased for what his team accomplished as it prepares for a championship run next week at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
“We basically did what we needed to do in the meet today to give our teams the best chance to compete at the NCAA meet next weekend. That’s the bottom line,” Shaver said. “I’m proud of the way both of our teams have competed to this point in the season, but we need to step it up in a big way next weekend if we want to make a run at a championship. We look forward to the challenge.”
Freshman sprinter Takeia Pinckney set the track on fire in the 60-meter dash while setting a new personal best and running one of the fastest times in the nation this season.
After clocking a personal best and lowering her NCAA provisional qualifying time to 7.28 seconds in the preliminary round, Pinckney returned to the track less than an hour later and blistered the straightaway on Friday night with a second personal best for the meet of 7.24. That time ranks Pinckney in a tie for fourth in the NCAA this season and in a tie for sixth on LSU’s all-time performance list in the event.
Pinckney, who had recorded a total of six provisional qualifying times between 7.31 and 7.37 this season, credited an improved start for her dramatic performance in Friday’s meet.
“It came from practice. Coach Shaver has been working with me on my start, and I knew that once I got it that I was going to finally hit the auto,” Pinckney said. “I know I can run even faster. I will run faster. It’s important that I step it up next week at NCAAs. My goal is to go there and try to win it. I’m in it to win it. I’m going to continue to work hard this week to prepare myself to run as fast as I can.”
Pinckney was not the only Lady Tiger to improve her qualifying position for the NCAA Championship as senior Samantha Henry lowered her provisional qualifying performance to 7.30 with a runner-up finish in the final to move into a tie for the No. 7 spot on the national descending order list.
Sophomore standout Michael Lauro kicked off the meet for the Tigers with a personal-best performance in the 35-pound weight throw. Lauro, who entered the weekend ranked No. 14 on the NCAA performance list with a seasonal best throw of 67 feet, 9 inches, moved up two spots into the No. 12 position nationally on the strength of his winning mark of 68-3 ¼ during Friday’s action at the Carl Maddox Field House.
What was even more impressive was his series that included consecutive throws of 65-7 ¾, 67-1 ½, 67-7, and 68-3 ¼ for a new personal record throwing the implement.
Lauro’s improved provisional qualifying performance all but assures him a spot in the NCAA meet, while it also has him closing in on the No. 2 spot on LSU’s all-time indoor performance list in the event.
The Tigers will likely feature two competitors in the 35-pound weight throw at the NCAA Championship meet as junior Walter Henning is the national leader in the event with a seasonal-best and personal-best throw of 78-1 set in winning his second-straight SEC title last weekend. Henning was named the SEC Men’s Indoor Field Event Athlete of the Year on Thursday for his performance this season.
A pair of Tiger jumpers also improved their seasonal-best NCAA provisional qualifying performances on Friday as senior Will Coppage and freshman Damar Forbes led the way in the long jump.
Coppage, who entered the meet with a top mark of 25-3 ½ this season, took second place with a seasonal-best jump of 25-5 ¼ on his final attempt of the competition. That performance moves Coppage in a tie for the No. 15 spot on the NCAA performance list for the 2010 indoor season.
Forbes also improved his NCAA provisional qualifying mark during Friday’s action as he soared to a new indoor and outdoor PR of 25-1 ¼ on his very first attempt of the afternoon to place third in the event. The Decatur, Ga., product entered the meet with a previous personal best of 24-11 ¾ set earlier this season.
“The NCAA Championships are here. That’s what we’ve worked so hard for in training since we first got together in the fall,” Shaver said. “We have a great opportunity to go to Fayetteville and compete with the best teams in the country for a national championship. We look forward to that opportunity. It is what this program is known for and it’s what we work for every year.”
LSU will wrap up the indoor season next week as they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the 2010 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships to be held March 12-13.