BATON ROUGE – Three members of the LSU Track & Field program parlayed their outstanding performance in Saturday’s outdoor season opener at the Louisiana Classics meet into four SEC Athlete of the Week honors as announced by the league office on Tuesday afternoon.
Freshman sprinter Aaron Ernest has was recognized as both the SEC Men’s Runner of the Week and SEC Men’s Freshman of the Week for his performance in claiming three event titles in his collegiate debut outdoors during Saturday’s competition held at the Ragin’ Cajuns Track Stadium.
A pair of LSU discus throwers also swept SEC Field Athlete of the Week honors on Tuesday as freshman Rodney Brown was selected the SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week and senior Samia Stokes was honored as the SEC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week for their effort at the Louisiana Classics.
Ernest emerged as the SEC’s No. 1-ranked sprinter in both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash with a sweep of sprint titles on the opening weekend of the 2012 outdoor season.
He claimed the 100-meter title after setting a new wind-legal personal record with a time of 10.31 seconds to finish the season-opening weekend with the No. 3-ranked performance in the NCAA. Ernest inked with the Tigers a season ago after setting a previous wind-legal PR of 10.33 to win the Alabama Class 6A state championship while competing for Homewood High School during his senior campaign.
Ernest added the 200-meter dash title to his trophy haul at the Louisiana Classics with an outdoor opening time of 21.29 that was run into a strong headwind of 1.5 meters per second.
In addition, Ernest ran the second leg of LSU’s 4×100-meter team that took the Louisiana Classics title as he teamed with sophomore Ben Guarisco, freshman Trevor Sansone and sophomore Shermund Allsop for a winning time of 40.26 that ranks No. 3 in the SEC and No. 6 in the NCAA after the weekend.
Ernest was not the only member of LSU’s heralded freshman class honored for his performance Saturday at the Louisiana Classics as Brown established himself as one of the NCAA’s elite discus throwers during the 2012 outdoor season while setting a personal record of his own in a runner-up finish.
Brown wasted no time in making his mark for the Tigers after unleashing a personal-best throw of 190 feet, 8 inches on his second attempt of Saturday’s competition en route to a second-place finish in his first appearance outdoors in an LSU uniform. His top throw of 190-8 would have earned Brown a fourth-place finish in the men’s discus final at the 2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Brown was the top collegian at this year’s Louisiana Classics as Jamaican international Jason Morgan had a top throw of 209-4 in his series to take first place overall in the competition.
A native of Chappell Hill, Texas, and product of Navasota High School, Brown added a mark of 182-9 on his third throw of the competition for an impressive series in his collegiate debut in the event. He also had an outdoor personal best in the shot put after throwing 52-8 ¾ in a third-place finish.
Brown’s top throw of 190-8 in the discus ranks No. 1 in the SEC and No. 2 in the NCAA in the wake of a successful outdoor opener for the Tigers. He is also now one of the Top 10 performers in school history as he owns the No. 6-ranked mark on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the discus throw.
Stokes added the SEC’s No. 1-ranked performance in the women’s discus on the opening weekend for the outdoor season as she claimed her third-straight Louisiana Classics title on the afternoon.
Stokes let loose a series-best mark of 171-5 on her third throw of the competition to finish her LSU career unbeaten in three appearances at the Louisiana Classics following wins in 2010 and 2011. While throwing the No. 5-ranked mark in the NCAA this season with a best of 171-5, Stokes added marks of 168-5 on her first attempt and 168-7 on her fifth attempt for a strong season-opening series.
LSU’s 2012 SEC Track & Field Athletes of the Week
SEC Men’s Runner of the Week
March 20 – Aaron Ernest
SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Feb. 7 – Damar Forbes
Feb. 14 – Damar Forbes
March 20 – Rodney Brown
SEC Men’s Freshman of the Week
March 20 – Aaron Ernest
SEC Women’s Runner of the Week
Jan. 24 – Cassandra Tate
Jan. 31 – Charlene Lipsey
Feb. 7 – Kimberlyn Duncan
Feb. 14 – Kimberlyn Duncan
SEC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Jan. 31 – Denise Hinton
March 20 – Samia Stokes
SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week
Jan. 24 – Tori Bliss