LEXINGTON, Ky. – Two Tigers earned All-SEC honors during Saturday’s action at the 2012 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships as senior Michael Lauro and junior Damar Forbes earned runner-up finishes to highlight the scoring for the LSU Track & Field teams on the second day of competition at the Nutter Field House on the campus of the University of Kentucky.
Lauro opened the scoring for the Tigers with a second-place finish in the weight throw, while Forbes took home a second-place finish of his own in the long jump while adding eight points apiece to the team score as the Tigers finished the day with 19 points for fifth place in the overall team standings.
The Lady Tigers scored 15 points of their own Saturday in addition to the three points scored by freshman Alex Gochenour in Friday’s pentathlon to finish the day in fourth place overall with 18 points.
Saturday also proved to be a successful day of qualifying on the track for the Tigers and Lady Tigers with the teams combining for 19 qualifiers into championship finals that are scheduled to run Sunday.
“What we really did today was give ourselves an opportunity to contend when we come back here Sunday for what we know is going to be an exciting finish at the SEC Championships,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “We’ve probably even given ourselves a few more opportunities to score points than what we really thought we could at the start of the meet. That’s a testament to our athletes.”
Lauro became LSU’s first All-SEC selection of this year’s SEC Indoor Championship and scored the first eight points of the meet for the Tigers with his runner-up finish in the men’s weight throw.
Lauro moved into second place in Saturday’s first field event final after throwing a distance of 68-0 ½ for his third attempt of the preliminary round. He then unleashed a 2012 seasonal-best mark of 69-2 ½ for his sixth and final throw of the competition to lock up his second career All-SEC honor in the event.
A native of Providence, R.I., Lauro moved up one spot to No. 13 in the NCAA rankings this season based on his performance Saturday while claiming an all-conference second-place finish in the weight throw for the second-straight season at the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships.
While Lauro got the Tigers off to a fast start by scoring his eight points in the weight throw, Forbes ended the day with eight points in the long jump while also claiming All-SEC honors for the second consecutive season at the SEC Indoor Championships with his second-place finish in the event.
Forbes trailed Alabama’s Kamal Fuller by just two centimeters as they prepared for the final after opening with a strong mark of 25-0 ¾ on his first jump of the competition.
Forbes then took the lead on his first jump of the finals as he improved to 25-2 ½ to overtake the previous leading mark of 25-1 ¾ by Fuller in the second round. Forbes extended his lead in the fifth round with his series-best mark of 26-1, but fell back into second place when Florida freshman Marquis Dendy moved to the top of the standings with his series-best of 26-5 ½ in the sixth round of jumps.
Forbes was unable to overtake Dendy on his sixth and final attempt of the evening as he posted a mark of 26-0 ¼ to come up a mere five inches short of his first career SEC long jump championship.
Senior Kyron Blaise added three more points with his sixth-place finish in the long jump as he jumped his series-best of 24-3 ¾ with his fourth attempt of the competition and first jump in the finals.
The Lady Tigers added to their point total Saturday with fourth-place finishes by senior Rachel Laurent in the pole vault and freshman Tori Bliss in the shot put, a fifth-place finish from junior Brittany Porter in the long jump and an eighth-place finish by junior Laura Carleton in the 3,000 meters.
Laurent raised her 2012 seasonal best by six inches with her third-attempt clearance at 13-10 ½ to vault to a tie for the No. 12 position in the NCAA rankings this season. With her performance, Laurent is now in a position to earn an at-large berth into the field at the 2012 NCAA Division I Indoor Championships being held in just two weeks at the Jackson Indoor Track in Nampa, Idaho.
Bliss added five points of her own in her SEC Championships debut Saturday as she posted a top mark of 51-0 ¾ on her second throw in the shot put to lock up fourth place in the event.
Porter earned a career-best fifth-place finish in the women’s long jump at the SEC Indoor Championships on Saturday afternoon as she jumped 19-9 on her third attempt to score four points. Carleton ran a time of 9 minutes, 34.16 seconds to score one point with an eighth-place finish in the 3,000-meter run.
“We really got some big points today out of the jumps and the throws that have put us in a better place for a strong finish tomorrow,” Shaver said. “Our athletes did a great job of competing today across the board. In a meet like this, it’s the fourth and fifth places that are going to win the championship. All of the teams in the hunt have athletes that are going to win some events. It’s the team that has the quality depth scoring in each one of the event areas that’s going to win the team title.”
There are four Tigers and Lady Tigers who will line up in Sunday’s championship finale as the No. 1 seed in their events after qualifying Saturday with the fastest time of the preliminary round.
Junior Kimberlyn Duncan is the favorite to defend her SEC Indoor 200-meter title after posting a seasonal best of 23.14 seconds on Saturday afternoon. She is also a contender for this year’s 60-meter crown with a qualifying run of 7.30 that proved to be the second-fastest time of the day.
Like Duncan, senior Rebecca Alexander earned a spot in two championship finals to run Sunday after she recorded the fifth-fastest time of the qualifying round for the 200-meter dash at 23.84 and the third-fastest time of qualifying round for the 400-meter dash at 53.36 as she is a contender for All-SEC honors.
Joining Duncan in the final of the 60-meter dash will be fellow junior Takeia Pinckney, who finished with the day with the fourth-fastest time of the preliminary round at 7.38. Senior Cassandra Tate also advanced in the 400-meter dash as she will join Alexander in the final after running 53.57 in qualifying.
In addition, two Lady Tigers advanced to championship finals in both the 60-meter hurdles and 800-meter run as they are poised for big points with the No. 1 seed in each event.
Junior Charlene Lipsey owns the No. 1 seed in the 800 meters after clocking 2:05.88 in prelim action. She will be joined in the event by freshman Samantha Levin, who advanced to her first career SEC final in her SEC Championships debut with the ninth-fastest time of the day at 2:09.71. Sophomore Jasmin Stowers is the No. 1 seed in the 60-meter hurdles after racing to 8.12 in the preliminary round, while junior Shanekia Hall also advanced to the final of the 60 hurdles with her time of 8.44.
Senior Barrett Nugent is the favorite to secure his second career SEC Indoor crown in the men’s 60-meter hurdles after cruising to a win in his prelim heat with the fastest time of the qualifying round at 7.71.
The Tigers expect to score a bulk of their points on the track in the 400-meter dash as they advanced three entries into the Sunday’s championship final on Saturday afternoon. Junior Caleb Williams set the pace with the fourth-fastest time of the qualifying round at 46.48, while seniors Riker Hylton (46.62) and Robert Simmons (46.99) each clocked seasonal best to earn a spot in the 400-meter final.
Senior Keyth Talley is the lone Tiger scheduled to line up in two finals on Sunday as he qualified with his times of 6.73 in the 60-meter dash and 21.38 in the 200-meter dash.
Junior Rynell Parson advanced to his first career 60-meter final at the SEC Indoor Championships with an advancing time of 6.75, while freshman Aaron Ernest earned a spot in the 200-meter final in his debut after clocking an indoor personal record of 21.18 for the sixth-fastest time of the day.
In addition, the Tigers will have an opportunity to score points in the 800 meters after senior James Thurn set a lifetime PR of 1:51.71 to advance with the fifth-fastest time of Saturday’s qualifying round.
The 2012 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships will continue Sunday with the first field event slated for a 10 a.m. CT start followed by the first finals on the track at 12:30 p.m. This year’s SEC Indoor men’s and women’s team champions will be crowned in an awards ceremony scheduled for 4:15 p.m.
Live results of this year’s SEC Indoor meet can be found online at the official website of LSU athletics at www.LSUsports.net. Fans can also watch the Tigers and Lady Tigers in action as ESPN3.com will stream live video of the meet during Sunday’s championship finale from 12:25-4 p.m.
Live updates throughout the meet will also be available on the official Facebook and Twitter pages for the LSU Track & Field program. To receive these live updates, fans are invited to like LSU Track & Field on Facebook and follow @LSUTrackField on Twitter. Additional coverage for the LSU Track & Field teams on Twitter will be provided by @WillStaffordLSU by sports information director Will Stafford.