AUSTIN, Texas – The Lady Tigers smashed their own school and meet record in claiming the women’s sprint medley relay championship during Friday’s action at the 85th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays as they scored a dominating victory to highlight Day 3 at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
The Lady Tigers have owned the Texas Relays sprint medley relay in recent years as Friday’s win marked their third victory in four seasons and their 12th championship in meet history.
Senior Kyron Blaise was also impressive in winning the men’s triple jump title on Friday afternoon as the LSU Track & Field teams took home their first two event championships during this year’s meet.
“Our kids really got after it today. I am proud of the way both our teams competed today,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “That was a special run by our women in the sprint medley relay, and it wasn’t easy running in that kind of wind as strong as it has been today. They can be proud of their performance.”
There proved to be no match for the Lady Tigers in the sprint medley relay final as the team of senior Semoy Hackett (200 meters), junior Kimberlyn Duncan (200 meters), senior Cassandra Tate (400 meters) and junior Charlene Lipsey (800 meters) finished nearly three seconds ahead of Arkansas (3:46.70) with a time of 3 minutes, 43.79 seconds in setting new school and meet records en route to the victory.
With their performance, the LSU women eclipsed their previous records of 3:43.98 set in their last sprint medley relay victory at the Texas Relays during the 2010 season.
The Lady Tigers have dominated the sprint medley relay nationally in recent seasons while claiming eight event championships between the Texas Relays and Penn Relays since 2008. They have won three in four years at the Texas Relays since 2009 and five-straight at the Penn Relays since 2008.
Blaise snapped a 9-year-old drought as the first Tiger to capture the triple jump crown at the Texas Relays since the great John Moffitt took the title back in the 76th running of the meet in 2003.
The product of South Plains College and native of Toco, Trinidad & Tobago, took control early with a seasonal-best wind-aided mark of 53 feet, 6 ½ inches on his second jump that improved his NCAA-leading performance in the event this season. That mark was set with an aided tailwind of +2.6 meters per second.
Blaise then followed with a wind-legal outdoor personal record on his third jump of the preliminary round as he sailed 53-3 ¾ with an allowable tailwind of +1.4 meters per second to move himself into the No. 9 spot on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the triple jump. The reigning SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week took the title by nearly two feet over Jamal Wilson (51-7 ¾) competing unattached.
Blaise already held the NCAA’s No. 1 ranking in the men’s triple jump this season after opening the 2012 campaign with a wind-aided effort of 53-5 at the LSU Relays a week ago.
Fellow senior Aaron Moore also continued his strong early-season form in the men’s javelin as he pushed his seasonal best to 227-5 in the fifth round of throws en route to a sixth-place finish in the event.
Moore, who opened the 2012 campaign with a top mark of 225-9 at the LSU Relays last weekend, kicked off this year’s Texas Relays with a solid opener of 220-3 to earn a spot in the championship final. He then moved into sixth place with a seasonal-best mark of 227-5 on his fifth attempt to crack nation’s Top 20 as the No. 17-ranked performer in the event into the third week of the campaign. Florida’s Stipe Zunic threw a best of 255-6 to win the javelin title over Texas A&M’s Sam Humphreys (248-7).
The Lady Tigers were led in the field events by junior Brittany Porter, who improved her NCAA standing in a runner-up finish in Friday’s “B” section of the women’s long jump.
After qualifying for the final with a top mark of 18-8 ¾ on her third jump of the preliminary round, Porter leaped into second place in the fifth round of jumps with a career-best wind-aided mark of 20-5. Her jump moved her into a tie for the No. 6 spot in the NCAA rankings in the 2012 outdoor season. Florida’s senior Daniela Griffin won the “B” section title over Porter with a top mark of 20-6 ¼.
Senior Samia Stokes added a fourth-place finish in the women’s discus championship on Friday afternoon with a series-best of 168-3 on her fourth attempt of the competition. She followed with a mark of 167-6 in the fifth round of throws for a solid series in the final to take fourth place overall.
“I thought we got a little bit better as a team today. We did some nice things, especially in the field events this afternoon,” Shaver said. “Those performances will help strengthen our roster when we prepare for the NCAA Championships. We need our athletes to have that kind of consistency week in and week out.”
The Lady Tigers are a strong contender for their first Texas Relays title in the 4×100-meter relay since the 2004 season after cruising through Friday’s qualifying round with the second-fastest time of the day.
Sophomore Takeia Pinckney, Hackett, senior Rebecca Alexander and Duncan teamed to match their 2012 seasonal best with a prelim time of 43.86 for a nearly two-second victory in the fifth heat to finish in front of the team from TCU (45.44). The Lady Tigers advanced to Saturday’s relay final with the second fastest time of the day as they will line up to the outside of Texas A&M (43.78) in a race for the title.
After pacing the Lady Tigers into the final of the 4×100-meter relay, Hackett and Duncan then returned to the track for their season openers in the qualifying round of the 100-meter dash.
Hackett won the first preliminary heat with a wind-aided run of 11.24 (+2.1), while Duncan followed with a win in the second heat with a strong wind-legal effort of 11.26 (+1.3). They easily advanced to the event final set for Saturday afternoon with the No. 2 and No. 3 times of the preliminary round. Louisiana Tech’s Chelsea Hayes was the fastest qualifier with Friday’s leading time of 11.20.
The Tigers also advanced to the championship final of the Clyde Littlefield Men’s 4×100-Meter Relay for their efforts on Friday morning as senior Barrett Nugent, freshman Aaron Ernest, senior Keyth Talley and sophomore Rynell Parson clocked 40.15 to win the fourth heat with the fifth-best qualifier of the day. The team hopes to claim its first Texas Relays titles in the event since 2008.
Nugent was LSU’s top individual qualifier on the men’s side during Friday’s prelim action after posting a strong season-opening time of 13.76 to win the first heat of the men’s 110-meter hurdles. His windy effort was the third-fastest time of the day as he looks to defend his Texas Relays title in the event.
Both Ernest and Talley also claimed a spot in Saturday’s championship finals as they returned to the track for the qualifying round of the men’s 100-meter dash during the morning session.
Ernest took second place in the first heat with the fifth-fastest run of the day at 10.30 to record a new legal personal record, while Talley clocked a seasonal-best wind-legal time at 10.37 to take third place in his heat with the eighth-fastest qualifier of the prelim round. Ernest continues to impress early in his career as he eclipsed his previous PR of 10.31 set March 17 in his season opener at the Louisiana Classics.
Lady Tiger junior Shanekia Hall enjoyed a personal-best performance of her own during the prelim action Friday morning as her wind-legal run of 13.33 (+0.9) earned her a spot in Saturday’s final of the women’s 100-meter hurdles with the seventh-fastest time of the day to lower her previous PR of 13.61.
Sophomore All-American Jasmin Stowers also made her 2012 debut in the 100-meter hurdles Friday with a wind-aided run of 13.39 for second place in the second heat and 10th place overall.
The Lady Tigers wrapped up the morning session of qualifying in the 4×400-meter relay while claiming a spot in the final. Junior Latoya McDermott, Tate, junior Siedda Herbert and senior Jonique Day earned an easy win in the fourth heat with a time of 3:35.05 for the fifth-fastest time of the prelim round.
“We’re going to have a presence here tomorrow, there’s no doubt about that,” Shaver said. “It was a good day of qualifying for both of our teams. I think they showed today that they’re ready to come out here and compete and win some races. Saturday is always a great day of competition here at the Texas Relays.”
Saturday’s finale of the 85th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays is set to kick off at 10 a.m. CDT with the field events followed by the first relay finals of the afternoon at 12:35 p.m.
Live results for the 85th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays can be found online at the official athletics website for the University of Texas at www.texassports.com. Fans can also receive live updates of both the Tigers and Lady Tigers competing throughout the meet by liking LSU Track & Field on Facebook and following @LSUTrackField on Twitter while joining the largest social media following in track and field.