BATON ROUGE – The honors continue to roll in for the Lady Tigers in the wake of their season-opening performance at the LSU Indoor Invitational last Friday night as senior shot putter Tori Bliss and freshman hurdler Mikiah Brisco have each been honored as Southeastern Conference Athletes of the Week in Tuesday’s release by the league office.
Only hours after being honored as the NCAA Division I National Women’s Athlete of the Week by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, Bliss picked up her first career SEC weekly honor as she is the SEC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week following her school-record-setting and national-leading victory in the women’s shot put at the LSU Invitational.
Brisco has cashed in on winning the women’s 60-meter hurdles in her collegiate debut by being named the SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week for the first time in her Lady Tiger career.
Bliss established herself as an early-season NCAA-title contender in the women’s shot put while smashing LSU’s 21-year-old indoor school record with a winning mark of 57 feet, 2 ¾ inches on Friday.
The reigning NCAA Outdoor silver medalist claimed her first victory of the season by nearly nine feet and catapulted herself into the No. 1 spot in the NCAA rankings following the opening weekend of the 2015 season. Bliss broke former NCAA discus champion Danyel Mitchell’s indoor school record of 55-10 ½ that was set back in 1994 while raising her own indoor personal best by more than four feet.
Even more impressive than Bliss’ winning mark was her series as she posted four throws that improved upon her previous indoor best of 53-1 entering the meet. She wasted no time in raising her own indoor best with an opening mark of 54-8 ¾ in the first round, improved her PR to 55-4 ¼ in the fourth round and then put back-to-back school records of 56-8 ½ in the fifth round and 57-2 ¾ in the sixth round of the final.
Bliss has carried her momentum from the end of her junior season outdoors in 2014 when she scored the NCAA Outdoor silver medal with a lifetime best of 57-4 ¼ that also broke her own outdoor school record.
The Portage, Indiana, native has now set a school record in each of her last two collegiate shot put appearances for the Lady Tigers while finishing as the national runner-up at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with an all-time best of 57-4 ¼ on June 14, 2014, and taking the title at the LSU Indoor Invitational on Friday night with an indoor best of 57-2 ¾.
Brisco kicked off her collegiate career with an impressive victory in the 60-meter hurdles at the LSU Indoor Invitational on Friday night while nearly setting a personal best in the event in her first collegiate final. After an effort of 8.60 seconds in the preliminary round, Brisco raced to the finish line in the final with a time of 8.46 for her first of what is sure to be many victories as a Lady Tiger.
Brisco, who has opened her freshman season with a PR of 8.45 set as a senior at Baton Rouge Magnet High School in 2014, emerged from the weekend as the No. 11-ranked 60-meter hurdler in the NCAA rankings with her performance. She also ranks No. 2 nationally among freshmen in the early part of the 2015 indoor season.
LSU’s SEC Athletes of the Week for 2015
SEC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Jan. 13 – Tori Bliss
SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week
Jan. 13 – Mikiah Brisco