GUANAJUATO, Mexico – The 2012 NCAA champion LSU Lady Tigers went out with a bang in Sunday’s finale of the 2012 North American, Central American & Caribbean Under-23 Championships as they added three gold medals to their medal count to wrap up the action at the Paralympic Track Stadium.
Just one day after Lady Tiger senior Rebecca Alexander set a meet record in claiming the 400-meter dash, junior teammate Kimberlyn Duncan established a new meet record of her own in Sunday’s finale with her gold-medal winning run in the 200-meter dash for her second gold medal of the weekend.
Duncan shattered the NACAC Championships meet record in winning the 200-meter gold medal in 22.72 seconds ahead of the 22.92 by Texas sophomore Allison Peter of the U.S. Virgin Islands. Pittsburgh’s star sprinter Cambrya Jones also won the bronze medal for the United States in 23.00.
Duncan, who also anchored the United States to the gold medal in the 4×100-meter relay on Friday, broke the previous meet record of 22.90 set by Shalonda Solomon of the United States back in 2006.
While Duncan made history on Sunday as the first Lady Tiger to win the NACAC U-23 gold medal in the 200 meters, senior Cassandra Tate became the second Lady Tiger to be crowned NACAC champion in the 400-meter hurdles in a dominant performance in the final. The 2012 NCAA champion won the title by more than one second with her run of 55.62 from lane No. 2. Ellen Wortham captured the silver medal for the United States in 57.10, while Jamaica’s Danielle Dowie won the bronze medal in 58.23.
Former Lady Tiger national champion Nickiesha Wilson of Jamaica also won the NACAC Championship gold medal in the women’s 400-meter hurdles with her victory in 2008.
Alexander and Tate then wrapped up the meet by leading the United States to a nearly five-second victory in the women’s 4×400-meter relay as they teamed with Wortham on the first leg and Diamond Dixon with the anchor leg to strike gold in a run of 3 minutes, 28.64 seconds, in front of Trinidad & Tobago (3:33.03) for the silver medal and Jamaica (3:34.29) for the bronze medal.
LSU Track & Field made history with its performance at the 2012 NACAC U-23 Championships with the program’s record of five gold medals in three days of competition, more than doubling its previous best of two gold medals at the bi-annual championship during both the 2006 and 2008 seasons.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers have now combined to win 28 medals all-time at the NACAC Championship, which includes 13 gold medals, seven silver medals and eight bronze medals since 2000.
LSU’s Medal History at the NACAC U-23 Championships
Athlete, Country, Medal Event
2012
Rebecca Alexander, United States, Gold, 400 Meters
Rebecca Alexander, United States, Gold, 4×400 Relay
Kimberlyn Duncan, United States, Gold, 200 Meters
Kimberlyn Duncan, United States, Gold, 4×100 Relay
Barrett Nugent, United States, Silver, 110 Hurdles
Cassandra Tate, United States, Gold, 400 Hurdles
Cassandra Tate, United States, Gold, 4×400 Relay
2010
Ade Alleyne-Forte, Trinidad & Tobago, Bronze, 4×400 Relay
Walter Henning, United States, Silver, Hammer Throw
Samantha Henry, Jamaica, Silver, 100 Meters
Samantha Henry, Jamaica, Silver, 4×100 Relay
Rachel Laurent, United States, Bronze, Pole Vault
Melissa Ogbourne, Jamaica, Bronze, Triple Jump
Kenyanna Wilson, United States, Gold, 4×100 Relay
Kenyanna Wilson, United States, Bronze, 100 Meters
2008
Samantha Henry, Jamaica, Silver, 4×100 Relay
Samantha Henry, Jamaica, Bronze, 100 Meters
Nickiesha Wilson, Jamaica, Gold, 400 Hurdles
Nickiesha Wilson, Jamaica, Gold, 4×400 Relay
2006
Reggie Dardar, United States, Silver, 4×400 Relay
Deonna Lawrence, United States, Gold, 4×400 Relay
Brooklynn Morris, United States, Gold, 4×100 Relay
Isa Phillips, Jamaica, Bronze, 400 Hurdles
Richard Thompson, Trinidad & Tobago, Bronze, 4×100 Relay
2004
Lolo Jones, United States, Gold, 100 Hurdles
Lolo Jones, United States, Silver, 4×100 Relay
2002
LeJuan Simon, Trinidad & Tobago, Bronze, Triple Jump
2000
Russ Buller, United States, Gold, Pole Vault