ATHENS, Ga. – After LSU senior Walter Henning kicked off the 2011 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Thursday with his victory in the men’s hammer throw, the Lady Tigers took their turns in the cage at Spec Towns Track on Friday and responded with nine points in their first event of the meet.
Junior Brieanna Kennedy and freshman Karen Henning scored the first points of this year’s championship for the Lady Tigers as Kennedy placed fourth and Henning placed fifth in the women’s hammer throw.
The No. 1-ranked Lady Tigers are off to a fast start in their title defense at the SEC Championships after a victory in the team race in Knoxville, Tenn., a season ago. In fact, LSU has taken home the women’s team title at the SEC Outdoor Championships in three of the last four seasons, including consecutive wins in 2007 and 2008. The Lady Tigers are also seeking a season sweep of SEC crowns for the first time since 2008 as they were also crowned this year’s SEC Indoor champions in March.
“Just like our men did yesterday, our women got us off to a good start today with their performance in the hammer throw,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “They competed really well today and probably got us a couple more points than expected. Every single point will be critical for us in the team race.”
Kennedy enjoyed her best performance at the SEC Championships during her collegiate career as her five points in the hammer throw were scored with perhaps her best series in the event.
Kennedy actually moved into third place in the competition after posting a mark of 182 feet, 11 inches on her third throw of the preliminary round. She then opened the final with a throw of 181-10 on her fourth attempt before improving with a throw of 183-8 on her sixth and final attempt of the afternoon en route to a fourth-place finish overall. Kennedy nearly eclipsed her personal record of 184-4 in the event.
Henning, whose brother captured his third-straight SEC hammer title for the Tigers on Thursday, finished in fifth place in her first career appearance SEC Outdoor Championships as she followed Kennedy during the competition with a series-best mark of 181-1 on her third throw of the afternoon.
Nine points is the most that the Lady Tigers have scored in the hammer throw at the SEC Championships, as women first competed in the event at the conference meet in 1997.
Friday’s action also saw the Tigers and Lady Tigers compete in three preliminary events on the track with eight athletes earning the right to compete in championship finals to run Sunday at Spec Towns Track.
The Lady Tigers were the first to step onto the track for the prelim round of the 800-meter run, and senior Brittany Hall (2:06.60) and sophomore Charlene Lipsey (2:07.66) each won their qualifying heat. Hall ran the second-fastest time of the day, followed by Lipsey in sixth place overall in the preliminary round.
Sophomore NCAA champion Kimberlyn Duncan and junior Semoy Hackett then stepped onto the oval in the qualifying round of the 200-meter dash and turned in the two fastest times of the evening in taking the top spot in their respective heats. Duncan will line up in Sunday’s final as the No. 1 seed after running her wind-legal time of 22.96 seconds, while Hackett is the No. 2 seed after running a windy 23.00 on Friday.
Defending SEC 400-meter hurdles champion Cassandra Tate then wrapped up the qualifying for the Lady Tigers with a win in the second heat of her prelim after running the fastest time of the day at 57.05.
Three of the four Tigers who lined up in the 200-meter prelim also advanced to the men’s 200-meter final that will run on Sunday, led by a win in the fifth heat by junior Horatio Williams with the fastest time this round with a wind-aided clocking of 20.42. Senior Gabriel Mvumvure followed Williams in second place in the heat with a time of 20.61w that ranked fourth overall in the preliminary round.
Senior Tristan Walker will make his first career SEC Championships final as he snatched the eighth place by running a wind-legal personal best of 20.73 to finish runner-up in the third qualifying heat.
Saturday’s action at the SEC Championships will continue at Spec Towns Track with the men’s javelin as the Tigers will compete at 11 a.m. CDT. The preliminary round on the track will continue at 3 p.m., as the athletes look to earn a spot in Sunday’s championship finale in Athens.
Fans are also reminded that live updates on the Tigers and Lady Tigers competing in this year’s event can be received by becoming a fan of LSU Track & Field on Facebook at www.facebook.com/lsutrackfield as well as by following @LSUTrackField on Twitter at www.twitter.com/lsutrackfield.