BATON ROUGE – In the wake of capturing LSU’s fourth team title in five seasons at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships held May 12-15 in Athens, Ga., three members of the Lady Tiger program were honored by the Southeastern Conference on Tuesday with the release of 2011 postseason awards.
LSU head coach Dennis Shaver added the title of SEC Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year to his indoor honor for a clean sweep of SEC Coach of the Year awards in 2011. Junior Semoy Hackett was elected the SEC Women’s Runner of the Year and freshman Jasmin Stowers was voted the SEC Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year for their performance at the SEC Championships.
The Lady Tigers captured their sixth SEC team championship under Shaver with their dominating victory at the 2011 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships after scoring 146 points to finish 30 points ahead of their nearest competitor. The Florida Gators finished in a distant second place with 116 points.
The Lady Tigers also completed their first season sweep of SEC team titles for the first time since 2008 as they added the SEC Outdoor title to the SEC Indoor crown they won back in March.
Hackett paved the way for LSU’s win as she became the first Lady Tiger since Keisha Spencer in 1999 to take home the SEC Commissioner’s Trophy as the top women’s point scorer at the SEC Championships.
Hackett won a pair of SEC titles during the competition as she was crowned the 100-meter champion with a wind-aided time of 11.01 seconds in the conference final after running the second leg of LSU’s winning 4×100-meter relay team that struck gold in 43.47. Hackett combined with senior Kenyanna Wilson, junior Rebecca Alexander and sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan in setting a new Spec Towns Track record.
She picked up a third All-SEC honor at this year’s SEC Championships as she was the conference runner-up in the 200-meter dash as she ran a windy 22.41 to finish behind only Duncan (22.27w) in the final. Her 20.5 points earned her the SEC Commissioner’s Trophy as the meet’s top individual point scorer.
Hackett heads to the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds this weekend as the No. 2-ranked performer in both the 100-meter dash (10.98w) and 200-meter dash (22.41w) in the NCAA for the 2011 outdoor season.
A native of Scarborough, Trinidad & Tobago, Hackett earned inclusion in the latest 10-member watch list for The Bowerman released last week as she is being considered for track’s Heisman Trophy.
Stowers was also a catalyst for LSU’s championship run, as she ran away with the SEC Outdoor crown in the women’s 100-meter hurdles while setting a new wind-legal personal record of 12.88 in the final. With her win, Stowers became the first Lady Tiger freshman in program history to win the SEC title in the 100-meter hurdles as 10 different LSU hurdlers have now taken home the event crown.
Stowers, who hails from Pendleton, S.C., has emerged as one of the nation’s premier young talents for the hurdles with her performance as a rookie as she also captured the SEC Indoor title in the 60-meter hurdles earlier this season in her first career SEC Championships appearance.
A three-time SEC Female Freshman of the Week selection this outdoor season, Stowers currently ranks in the No. 3 spot in the NCAA this season with a seasonal best wind-aided time of 12.86.
Both Hackett and Stowers will lead the Lady Tigers in Bloomington, Ind., this weekend while opening up the 2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships with an appearance in the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds beginning Thursday at Indiana’s E.C. Billy Hayes Track.
2011 SEC Outdoor Postseason Awards
SEC Women’s Runner of the Year
Semoy Hackett, LSU
SEC Women’s Field Athlete of the Year
Tina Sutej, Arkansas
SEC Women’s Freshman Runner of the Year
Jasmin Stowers, LSU
SEC Women’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year
Rochelle Farquharson, Mississippi State
SEC Women’s Co-Scholar Athletes of the Year
Holly Knight, Auburn
Chanelle Price, Tennessee
SEC Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year
Dennis Shaver, LSU
SEC Men’s Runner of the Year
Kirani James, Alabama
SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Year
Will Claye, Florida
SEC Men’s Freshman Runner of the Year
Dentarious Locke, Tennessee
SEC Men’s Freshman Field Athlete of the Year
Stephen Saenz, Auburn
SEC Men’s Scholar Athlete of the Year
Lee Ellis Moore, Ole Miss
SEC Men’s Outdoor Coach of the Year
Chris Bucknam, Arkansas