JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The LSU Track & Field teams were impressive on the second day of action at the 2012 NCAA East Preliminary Rounds as they combined for 16 qualifiers into the NCAA semifinals in their 21 opportunities in Thursday’s quarterfinals at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium.
In two days of competition at the University of North Florida, the Tigers and Lady Tigers have teamed up for 21 NCAA semifinalists as the semifinal and final rounds of the 2012 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 6-9.
In addition, the squads were a perfect 8-for-8 in preliminary qualifying on Friday afternoon while moving on to Saturday’s quarterfinals in the 200-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles and 100-meter hurdles.
“I’m really proud with the kind of effort our athletes gave us today,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “Not only did they do what they had to do to move on to the next round, but in most cases, they were able to do what they had to do to earn a better lane when they go to Des Moines. We’ve done just about all that we can do to this point. We just need to come back tomorrow and finish it strong.”
The Tigers and Lady Tigers were especially impressive with their performance in the qualifying round of the 400-meter dash as all six athletes who lined up on Thursday afternoon earned their plane ticket to Des Moines for the national semifinals to run in less than two weeks.
Freshman Quincy Downing led it off for the Tigers in the first heat of the men’s 400-meter quarterfinal as he ran a personal record for the second-straight day with a time of 46.18 seconds to automatically advance to his first career NCAA semifinal. Downing, who opened with a time of 46.38 in Thursday’s preliminary round, finished with the ninth-fastest time of the afternoon.
Senior Robert Simmons followed with a fourth-place finish in the second quarterfinal heat as he clocked 46.05 to advance as the fastest timed qualifier with the eighth-best time of the day.
Seniors Riker Hylton and Ade Alleyne-Forte then made it a clean sweep for the Tigers in the 400 meters with their 2-3 finish in the third and final quarterfinal race. Hylton ran a strong seasonal-best of 45.89 for second place and the sixth-fastest time of the day, while Alleyne-Forte followed with a PR of 46.22 en route to third place in the heat with the 10th-fastest time of the quarterfinal round.
“We didn’t talk about it much last night, but when we got here, we knew we had to go out there and get it done for the team,” Hylton said following his race. “I was feeling a bit slow, but I was like, ‘I’ve got to go out and put myself in the race. I made up some ground at 200 (meters) and came off the turn in front. That helped me keep my composure, and I came through the line good.”
Seniors Rebecca Alexander and Jonique Day were impressive in advancing to the 400-meter semifinal for the Lady Tigers to kick start another strong day of qualifying for the nation’s No. 1-ranked team.
Alexander came from behind down the homestretch to beat Mississippi State’s Jodi-Ann Muir (52.00) for the win in the third quarterfinal heat with her run of 51.89. The SEC Outdoor silver medalist earned a spot in the national semifinal with the second-fastest time of the afternoon.
After entering the weekend with a PR of 52.72 set earlier this spring, Day crushed her best on Friday with a 52.11 clocking to take second place in the first heat. Her time stood as the fourth-fastest of the afternoon as she earned a berth into the national semifinal for the first time in her collegiate career.
“What else can you say?” Shaver questioned in regard to the performance of LSU’s 400-meter sprinters in Friday’s qualifying. “Our guys got in there and competed very well. It says a lot about their mentality and preparation that all four were able to make it through to the next round.
“It was a lot of fun to watch Jonique set a big personal best today. She’s gaining confidence each time she steps onto the track in the open (400 meters) and has given herself a chance to score some points for our team. Rebecca has run a lot of great races for us this year and executed another great race today to win her heat.”
The Lady Tigers added to their numbers when junior Kimberlyn Duncan won the first quarterfinal heat of the 100-meter dash in 11.18 (+1.5) and senior Semoy Hackett finished runner-up in the third heat with her run of 11.31 (+1.3) to earn their trip to Des Moines for the second year in a row. Duncan, the 2011 NCAA silver medalist in the event, advanced as the top qualifier of the day.
Duncan (22.68) and Hackett (23.05) then ran wind-legal seasonal bests to win their respective preliminary races in the women’s 200-meter dash to secure a spot in Saturday’s quarterfinal action. Duncan’s effort of 22.68 in the fifth heat is the NCAA’s fastest wind-legal time in the 200 meters this spring.
Freshman Aaron Ernest set the pace for the Tigers in the short sprints on Friday after earning a spot in the NCAA semifinals in the 100-meter dash and the NCAA quarterfinals in the 200-meter dash.
Ernest was the second-fastest timed qualifier in the 100-meter quarterfinal after running 10.29 (+1.2) for a fifth-place finish in the third heat while moving on to Des Moines with the 10th-fastest time of the day. He then established a new wind-legal PR of 20.61 (+0.3) to lead LSU’s trio into the quarterfinal round of the 200-meter dash with the ninth-fastest time of the first round of qualifying.
Despite coming up short in the 100-meter quarterfinal earlier in the day, both senior Keyth Talley (20.77) and sophomore Shermund Allsop (20.85) joined Ernest by setting wind-legal PRs of their own for second place in their respective 200-meter prelims to advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal round.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers also featured one semifinal qualifier apiece in the 800-meter run after junior All-American Charlene Lipsey won the first heat of the women’s quarterfinal in 2 minutes, 4.08 seconds and junior Howard Shepard took fourth place in the first heat of the men’s quarterfinal with a run of 1:47.87 to set a new personal best and move into the No. 9 spot on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the event.
Senior Cassandra Tate wrapped up Friday’s quarterfinals on the track by running a seasonal-best of 56.40 to win the second heat of the 400-meter hurdles with the second-fastest time of the evening.
Senior All-American Rachel Laurent led off a group of four field event athletes advancing into the NCAA semifinals as she finished among the Top 12 in the women’s pole vault in the first event of the day.
Laurent only needed to clear three bars on the afternoon at 12-11 ½, 13-3 ½ and 13-5 ¼ to earn her spot in a seventh NCAA semifinal in her illustrious career as the premier pole vaulter in the history of the Lady Tiger program. Laurent, a four-time All-American in the event, has qualified for the NCAA Outdoor meet in each of her four seasons at LSU, as well as three appearances at the NCAA Indoor meet.
Just minutes after Laurent earned her trip to Des Moines in the women’s pole vault, fellow senior Michael Lauro wrapped up a seventh-place finish in the quarterfinal round of the men’s hammer throw as he threw a series-best of 211-2 on his third attempt to advance to his third national semifinal.
In the afternoon session, senior Samia Stokes advanced to the NCAA semifinal in the women’s discus for the second time in her three seasons with the Lady Tigers as she took eighth place in Friday’s quarterfinal after posting her best mark of the day at 169-6 on her very first throw.
Senior Kyron Blaise then wrapped up the field-event action with a fourth-place finish in the triple jump as he jumped a best of 51-11 in the prelims after also qualified for the long jump semifinal on Thursday.
In addition, three LSU athletes earned their spot in Saturday’s quarterfinals of the sprint hurdles as Barrett Nugent won the first heat of the men’s 110-meter hurdles with the third-fastest time of the day at 13.52w, sophomore Jasmin Stowers took the fourth heat of the women’s 100-meter hurdles with the fourth-best of the day at 13.01w and junior Shanekia Hall ran the 18th-fastest time of the day at 13.36w.
“We’ve got a lot of positive energy going through both of our teams right now,” Shaver said. “We’re very proud with the way they’ve competed to this point, but it’s not over. This is just the second day in a seven day NCAA Championship. We’ll come back here ready to go for another critical day tomorrow.”
LSU kicks off the final day of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds at 10 a.m. CT Saturday with the qualifying round of the men’s pole vault. The action heats up on the track beginning at 5 p.m. CT with the running of the quarterfinal round of the men’s and women’s 4×100-meter relays.
Fans are reminded that a live video stream of Friday’s action at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium will post at www.unfospreys.com. Fans can also receive live updates of both the Tigers and Lady Tigers competing at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Saturday’s finale in liking LSU Track & Field on Facebook and by following @LSUTrackField on Twitter throughout the weekend.
LSU’s Qualifiers for the NCAA Championships Semifinals in Des Moines, Iowa
Note: All marks and places were achieved this weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds
Tigers
Name, Event, Time/Mark (Place)
Ade Alleyne-Forte, 400 Meters, 46.22 (10)
Kyron Blaise, Long Jump, 24-10 (12)
Kyron Blaise, Triple Jump, 51-11 (4)
Quincy Downing, 400 Meters, 46.18 (9)
Aaron Ernest, 100 Meters, 10.29 (10)
Damar Forbes, Long Jump, 25-4w (3)
Riker Hylton, 400 Meters, 45.89 (6)
Michael Lauro, Hammer, 211-2 (7)
Aaron Moore, Javelin, 218-8 (11)
Howard Shepard, 800 Meters, 1:47.87 (5)
Robert Simmons, 400 Meters, 46.05 (8)
Jeremy Tuttle, Javelin, 21807 (12)
Lady Tigers
Name, Event, Time/Mark (Place)
Rebecca Alexander, 400 Meters, 51.89 (2)
Jonique Day, 400 Meters, 52.11 (4)
Kimberlyn Duncan, 100 Meters, 11.18 (1)
Semoy Hackett, 100 Meters, 11.31 (3)
Rachel Laurent, Pole Vault, 13-5 ¼ (7)
Charlene Lipsey, 800 Meters, 2:04.08 (2)
Brittany Porter, Long Jump, 20-5 (9)
Samia Stokes, Discus, 169-6 (8)
Cassandra Tate, 400 Hurdles, 56.40 (2)