BATON ROUGE – After earning a pair of top-six finishes at the NCAA Championships while capturing their fourth Southeastern Conference team championship in as many years during the 2010 season, the Lady Tigers are primed for another championship run as they return eight All-Americans that will surely provide the foundation of one of the nation’s most talented teams this spring.
Like the 2011 men’s team, the Lady Tigers feature a balanced squad with All-Americans returning in three different event areas, including the sprints, jumps and middle distance events. When that experience combines with another talented recruiting class ranked among the nation’s best, then it is easy to see why the Lady Tigers will surely join the national championship race again in 2011.
Sprints/Relays
LSU has built the success of its women’s program on developing the best sprinters at the collegiate level year in and year out, and the Lady Tigers are sure to be among the nation’s best in 2011 as four All-Americans return to fuel another championship run this spring.
Despite losing the services of 15-time All-American and Lady Tiger star Samantha Henry from last year’s squad, LSU is back and better than ever as senior Kenyanna Wilson, junior Cassandra Tate, sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan and sophomore Takeia Pinckney will team with a talented class of recruits that will lead the charge at the NCAA Championships once again.
Pinckney has emerged as a true NCAA title contender following a brilliant freshman year in 2010 highlighted by an All-American fourth-place finish in the 100-meter final at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She also ran the third leg on LSU’s 4×100-meter relay team that was the NCAA runner-up at the national meet after winning her first career All-America award following a seventh-place finish in the 60-meter final at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Pinckney, an Atlanta native who was the IAAF World Junior Championships silver medalist in the 100-meter dash and gold medalist in the 4×100-meter relay over the summer at the world meet, enters the 2011 campaign with personal records of 7.24 in the 60 meters, 11.26 in the 100 meters and 23.32 in the 200 meters.
While Pinckney ran the third leg on LSU’s 4×100-meter relay team a year ago, Duncan and Wilson joined in the foursome by running the second and anchor legs, respectively, in LSU’s runner-up finish in the NCAA final.
Wilson has earned a total of five All-America honors during her collegiate career as she opens her senior campaign with PRs of 7.24 in the 60 meters and 11.20 in the 100 meters. Wilson was also an indoor All-American as a junior in 2010 as she earned a fifth-place finish in the finals of the 60-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor meet. She also qualified for the semifinals in the 100-meter dash for the third time in her career at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Duncan is an emerging 200-meter star for the Lady Tigers following her 13th-place finish in the event at both the NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor meets as a true freshman a season ago. She boasts a lifetime 200-meter PR of 23.08, as well as a top wind-aided time of 22.96 in the event.
Adding firepower in the short sprints for the Lady Tigers will be junior transfer Semoy Hackett of Trinidad & Tobago and true freshman Toshika Sylvester of Braithwaite, La.
Hackett is arguably the top newcomer to the NCAA Division I ranks this season as she was a 10-time NCAA Division II champion during her two-year career at Lincoln University. A 2008 Olympian for Trinidad & Tobago, Hackett is a sure-fire All-America and NCAA title contender this year as she owns PRs of 7.24 in the 60 meters, 11.18 in the 100 meters and 22.75 in the 200 meters.
Tate will headline a 4×400-meter relay pool as the team’s top returning relay runner from a year ago when the Lady Tigers placed second indoors and third outdoors at the NCAA Championships. Tate, who is primarily a 400-meter hurdler outdoors, has run multiple 51-second and 52-second splits on the mile relay.
Joining Tate in the mile relay pool will be senior middle distance runner Brittany Hall, sophomore Latoya McDermott (53.48) and sophomore Siedda Herbert (54.35), as well as junior college transfers Rebecca Alexander (53.17) and Jonique Day (55.66).
Hurdles
The 2010 season saw the emergence of one of the nation’s premier 400-meter hurdlers in Lady Tiger sophomore Cassandra Tate. In her first season competing in the event, Tate proved to be an All-America threat while being crowned the SEC champion in just her fourth race in history en route to an appearance in the national semifinal at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Tate, who finished the season with a personal best of 56.87 that ranks No. 5 on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list, will open her junior season as one of the top returning performers in the NCAA and an All-America favorite once again while leading the LSU hurdlers. The group has reestablished the depth it will need to stake the claim as a championship favorite in 2011.
Tate is not the only returning All-SEC and All-America candidate for the Lady Tigers this season as Tenaya Jones returns for her senior season after earning her second-career All-SEC selection as a junior a year ago with a runner-up finish in the final of the 100-meter hurdles at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Jones nearly captured her first career SEC title with her second-place performance during the SEC Outdoor meet, where she clocked a time of 13.42 with a strong 1.2 headwind in the final. She followed that performance by setting a new wind-legal personal-best time of 13.20 in the 100 hurdles in the national quarterfinal at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds, finishing one place out of advancing to the semifinal round at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
And teaming with Jones in the sprint hurdles this season is one of the nation’s top recruits for the Class of 2010 in true freshman and Pendleton, S.C., native Jasmin Stowers.
Stowers joins the collegiate ranks following a brilliant prep career during which she set a personal record of 13.52 in the 100-meter hurdles. A two-time Nike Outdoor Nationals gold medalist and USA Today All-USA Track & Field Team selection, Stowers also struck gold with a win in the 100 hurdles at the USATF Junior Olympics in 2009.
Middle Distance/Distance
Lady Tiger great LaTavia Thomas wrapped up a brilliant collegiate career in 2010 as one of the elite middle distance runners to ever wear the Lady Tiger uniform, winning 12 All-America honors in four seasons with six in the 800-meter run and six in the 4×400-meter relay. As a senior a year ago, Thomas was impressive in earning third-place finishes in the 800-meter run at both the NCAA Indoor Championships and NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The 2008 NCAA Indoor champion finished her career as LSU’s No. 2-ranked performer all-time with personal bests of 2:01.40 outdoors and 2:03.77 indoors. She also captured eight SEC titles and 12 All-SEC honors in four seasons with the Lady Tigers from 2007-10, cementing her place as an LSU great.
Thomas is not the only LSU middle distance All-American to leave the team following an outstanding 2010 season as Kayann Thompson wrapped up her collegiate career by earning an All-America selection with an eighth-place finish in the 800 meters in the final race at the NCAA Outdoor Championships held in Eugene, Ore.
But while the Lady Tigers are without the 20 points scored by Thomas and Thompson for the team totals in NCAA competition a season ago, a pair of All-America hopefuls returns to help lead the team as one of the nation’s more talented middle distance groups again this spring.
NCAA Championships veteran Brittany Hall will lead the group as she will enter her senior season looking to reclaim the All-America form she displayed as a sophomore in 2009.
Hall, who owns a lifetime personal best of 2:03.68 in the 800-meter run, received her All-America honor in the event during the 2009 season with a sixth-place finish in the final race at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. A native of Norcross, Ga., Hall is also a two-time All-American in her career as a member of LSU’s 4×400-meter relay team.
While the 2010 season saw the end of an era with Thomas competing for the last time for the Lady Tigers, it also saw the emergence of the next generation of LSU middle distance runners with the performance of standout freshman Charlene Lipsey.
The No. 1-ranked middle distance recruit in the country for the Class of 2009, Lipsey was an outstanding performer for the Lady Tigers during her rookie season as she qualified for the national semifinals with a 15th-place finish overall during her first career appearance at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Lipsey enters her sophomore season with lifetime PRs of 2:05.34 in the 800 meters and 4:28.15 in the 1,500 meters as she looks to build upon a freshman season in which she scored in both events at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Jumps
The Lady Tigers have built a strong tradition in the jumps with some of the NCAA’s elite performers to ever compete at the collegiate level, and the 2011 season will be no different as the foundation of the jumps group will be built upon a trio of All-Americans in three different events, including the high jump, triple jump and pole vault.
Junior Brittani Carter enjoyed a breakout sophomore season in 2009 and followed that up with an outstanding junior season in 2010 in which she continued her development as one of the nation’s leading high jumpers.
After becoming the first Lady Tiger to be crowned an SEC high jump champion since 1999 with her victory at the SEC Indoor Championships, Carter became the first three-time All-American high jumper in team history with her fifth-place at the NCAA Indoor meet. At the SEC Outdoor Championships, Carter earned All-SEC honors for the fourth time in her time at LSU with a second-place finish in the event.
The reigning Texas Relays and Penn Relays champion also continued her ascent in the LSU record books by posting new personal bests of 6 feet, ¾ inches indoors and 6-0 ½ outdoors.
While Carter earned her third career All-America honor at the NCAA Indoor meet, junior Rachel Laurent became an All-American for the second time in her collegiate career following an LSU all-time best third-place finish nationally in the pole vault. Following an All-SEC effort with a runner-up finish at the SEC Indoor Championships while setting a new lifetime personal best of 14-3 ½, Laurent cleared 14-3 ¼ at the national meet en route to her third-place finish.
Also returning to the squad for her senior campaign is Melissa Ogbourne, who became an All-American for the first time in 2010 with a fifth-place finish in the triple jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. While finishing the NCAA meet with a top wind-aided jump of 43-10 at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., Ogbourne also established a new wind-legal personal best during her series a jump of 43-8. She placed ninth in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
The Jamaican added her first career All-SEC honor during her junior season a year ago as she took second-place in the triple jump at the SEC Indoor Championships. In fact, Ogbourne was the team’s top scorer at the SEC Indoor meet with 14 points as she also posted a third-place finish in the long jump. She totaled 25 points for the Lady Tigers at the SEC Championships in 2010.
Sophomore Brittany Porter returns to strengthen the group after posting a top mark of 20-1 ½ in the long jump as a freshman a year ago. The Lady Tigers also welcome arguably the top jumps recruit in the country for the Class of 2010 as freshman Jen Clayton of Suffern, N.Y., is set to make her collegiate debut this season. A former World Youth Championships bronze medalist, Clayton owns a lifetime PR of 20-10 ¾ in the long jump.
Throws
For the first time since the 1994 season, the Lady Tigers return the SEC discus champion as Samia Stokes looks to defend her crown and challenge for All-America accolades as a junior in 2011 while leading a talented Lady Tiger throws group.
Stokes, who signed with LSU as one of the top throws prospects at the junior college level in the Class of 2009, became the first Lady Tiger to capture the SEC title in the discus at the SEC Outdoor Championships since LSU great and former national champion Danyel Mitchell in 1993 and 1994. After setting a personal best with a throw of 168-5 at the conference meet, Stokes shattered her own PR with the No. 2-ranked performance in program history with a throw of 177-11 at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds to advance to the national semifinals.
Stokes also proved to be one of LSU’s leaders in the weight throw and hammer throw last season, setting personal records of 60-8 ¾ in the weight throw and 170-11 in the hammer throw. Her top throw of 60-8 ¾ in the weight throw ranks No. 2 on LSU’s all-time performance list.
Perhaps the most versatile member of the LSU throws group is junior Brieanna Kennedy. The Newark, Del., native has competed in events ranging from the shot put, discus and javelin to the weight throw and hammer throw during her first two seasons with the program. Kennedy was an SEC scorer in both the javelin and hammer events a season ago.
Joining Stokes and Kennedy in the weight throw and hammer throw events is the sister of LSU national champion Walter Henning as true freshman Karen Henning is set to compete during the 2011 season. The younger Henning is primed to be an SEC scorer this spring as she brings her personal bests of 53-4 in the weight throw and 164-3 in the hammer throw.
In addition, the Lady Tigers will be led by a trio of talented freshman javelin throwers during the outdoor season with the likes of Annie Simoneaux (150-5), Abbey Karin (145-1) and Jenna Baker (139-11) ready to make their collegiate debuts this season.