NEW YORK – Lady Tiger junior Charlene Lipsey made a triumphant return to her home state Friday afternoon as she took down the New Balance Collegiate Invitational meet record in claiming the women’s 1,000 meters championship during the opening day of competition at The Armory Track & Field Center.
Fellow junior Damar Forbes added a victory in the men’s championship long jump with a seasonal best as the LSU Track & Field teams captured a pair of event titles during Friday’s action.
While running in the fifth of five heats of the 1,000-meter run, the former Hempstead (N.Y.) High School star led wire-to-wire while claiming LSU’s first event championship of the meet with her winning time of 2 minutes, 44.34 seconds. Lipsey outkicked BYU standout Katie Palmer (2:44.78) to the finish line on the bell lap as the Cougar All-American faded down the homestretch in a runner-up effort.
With the win, Lipsey eclipsed the previous meet record of 2:45.73 by more than a second as BYU’s Sarah Edwards held the mark that was set during the New Balance Collegiate Invitational a year ago.
Lipsey continues to display an All-America form in the first month of the indoor season as she has set two PRs in both the 800 meters (2:03.79) and mile (4:45.04) already on the campaign. Her personal-best effort of 2:03.79 in the 800 meters is currently the NCAA’s fastest time for 2012.
“The more I run, the more confidence I get. These races have been a huge confidence boost for me since I am finally winning,” Lipsey said. “Since I’ve gotten here, my indoor season has usually been horrible, but I always pick it up outdoors. With me having such a good start indoor, it gives me so much confidence for the rest of the season. I’m happy with the way it’s turning out right now.”
Lipsey signed with the Lady Tigers as the No. 1-ranked 800-meter recruit in the country with the Class of 2009 following a brilliant prep career at Hempstead High School in Hempstead, N.Y.
“It’s really special,” Lipsey said of returning home to New York and setting a meet record. “Each of those other two times I came here, I didn’t run well at all. So, I was really discouraged coming home because of those performances. For me to finally win something like this at home really means a lot to me.”
Forbes teamed with senior Kyron Blaise for a 1-2 finish and 18 points in the men’s long jump as each had seasonal-best performances in leading the Tigers’ scoring on Friday evening.
After recording the No. 3-ranked mark in the NCAA this season at 26 feet, 0 ¼ inches last weekend at the Razorback Invitational, Forbes improved his mark to 26-0 ¾ to become the third LSU Tiger in four seasons to win the New Balance Collegiate Invitational long jump championship. Forbes joined such long jump champions at The Armory Track & Field Center as former Tigers Walter Davis (2002), John Moffitt (2003, 2004), Will Coppage (2009) and Zedric Thomas (2010).
Blaise also moved into the Top 10 of the NCAA rankings this season with his performance as he recorded a 2012 seasonal best and the nation’s No. 6-ranked mark 25-4 ½ to finish runner-up to Forbes in the final event standings. Blaise is poised to break his indoor personal record of 25-6 ¼ this season.
Five Tigers and Lady Tigers even strengthened their NCAA qualifying position with seasonal bests in the sprints and hurdles during Friday’s action while advancing to finals on the opening day of competition.
Senior Barrett Nugent led the way with a bronze-medal winning third place finish in the final of the men’s 60-meter hurdles as he clocked the NCAA’s No. 4-ranked performance this season at 7.72 to finish behind only Syracuse’s NCAA leader Jarrett (7.54) and Clemson’s Spencer Adams (7.68) for the title. He set his previous seasonal best of 7.74 in the preliminary round on Friday afternoon.
Lady Tiger sophomore Jasmin Stowers finished runner-up in the consolation final of the women’s hurdles with a seasonal-best time of 8.11 that moved her into the No. 5 spot on the NCAA list for 2012 and only a mere .01 seconds off the NCAA automatic qualifying standard of 8.10 in the event.
Senior Keyth Talley won his qualifying heat of the men’s 60-meter dash with a new personal best of 6.67 before taking sixth place in the championship final with a time of 6.71. Junior Kimberlyn Duncan added a sixth-place finish of her own in the championship final of the women’s 60-meter dash with a 2012 best of 7.35, while fellow junior Takeia Pinckney took second in the consolation final with a time of 7.36.
Lady Tiger freshman Tori Bliss kicked off the meet for the LSU Track & Field teams with a strong PR for fourth place in the championship division of the women’s shot put.
Bliss, who posted a previous PR of 50-11 ½ in her victory at the Texas A&M Dual Meet on Jan. 21, went 51-5 ½ on her fifth throw and 51-7 on her sixth throw of the competition to move into fourth place overall and finish the competition among the nation’s leading freshmen in the event. Her series-best of 51-7 ranks No. 2 overall in the SEC and No. 3 among freshmen in the NCAA for the 2012 indoor season.
Two Tiger freshmen also set lifetime personal bests in the championship division of the men’s shot put as Rodney Brown led the way with a mark of 51-3 and Jeremy Tuttle followed at 45-7 ¼.
Junior Cullen Doody enjoyed a personal-best performance of his own Friday as he slashed 38 seconds off his previous best in the 5,000 meters with the No. 9-ranked performance all-time by an LSU Tiger at 14:30.25 that scored one point with an eighth-place finish in the championship section.
In addition, junior pole vaulter Lacey Sanchez shattered her indoor PR in her specialty with a clearance of 12-9 ½ as she took home 10th place in the women’s championship pole vault. Sanchez strengthened her position at No. 3 on LSU’s all-time performance list after entering the meet with a previous PR of 12-1 ½.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers also feature two of the favorites to take home the 400-meter dash titles during Saturday’s championship finale as senior Rebecca Alexander and junior Caleb Williams each emerged from Friday’s qualifying action with two of the fastest times of the afternoon.
Williams won his heat of the men’s 400-meter prelims with the fastest time of the day at 47.14 as finished ahead of Dublin City’s Brian Gregan (47.29) for the No. 1 seed in Saturday’s final.
Like Williams, Alexander cruised to victory in her qualifying heat of the women’s 400 meters with a time of 53.74 to finish well ahead of Tennessee’s Ellen Wortham (54.14) in the section. Alexander trailed only the time of 53.71 by Clemson’s Marlena Wesh in Friday’s preliminary action in the 400-meter dash.
The action continues for the LSU Track & Field teams at the 2012 New Balance Collegiate Invitational at 8 a.m. CT on Saturday morning as many of the nation’s premier programs wrap up this year’s event at The Armory. The Tigers and Lady Tigers follow Saturday’s action with a return trip to Fayetteville, Ark., on Feb. 10-11 to compete at the Tyson Invitational at the Randal Tyson Track Center.