LEXINGTON, Ky. – The LSU Track & Field teams are off to a flying start at Kentucky’s Rod McCravy Memorial Track & Field Meet with senior Rodney Brown and sophomore Jada Martin each turning in personal-best performances to rank among the NCAA’s elite in their respective events to highlight Friday’s action at the Nutter Field House.
Martin sprinted to victory in the women’s 200-meter dash with an indoor personal best of 23.44 seconds to move into the No. 3 position in the early-season NCAA rankings this season, while Brown unleashed a nearly five-foot personal best of 68 feet, 6 ½ inches in a runner-up finish in the men’s weight throw to catapult himself into the No. 13 spot on the national list in 2015.
Senior Vernon Norwood nearly set a personal best of his own while cruising to victory in the men’s 600-yard run, and sophomores Tremayne Acy and Nataliyah Friar each opened their season on the cusp of the Top 10 of the national rankings with impressive performances in the 200 meters and long jump, respectively.
In all, LSU’s athletes scored two events wins and turned in four indoor personal bests and five performances that rank among the Top 15 nationally on the opening day of the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet.
“What a great way for us to start the weekend with the competitive spirit that we showed today,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “I’m very pleased with the attitude our kids showed today, and the manner which they prepared themselves to come here today and compete at a high level. You can tell we’re starting to make strides as a team with each opportunity we have to compete, and I feel like we did that again today.”
Martin was the first to step onto the track during Friday’s competition in the first of 10 heats of the women’s 200-meter dash and cruised to an easy victory with a sprint of 23.44 on the nearly 300-meter oversized track for the nation’s third-fastest 200 meters indoors to this point of the season.
Martin, who lined up with a previous indoor personal record of 23.85 set during her freshman season a year ago, crossed the finish line nearly three tenths of a second ahead of Florida’s Destinee Gause (23.70) to take the tape in the first section. She would be crowned event champion by nearly two tenths of a second ahead of USC’s heat winners Ky Westbrook (23.62) and Tynia Gaither (23.66).
Martin was just a split second shy of the NCAA lead of 23.12 held by Kentucky’s Dezerea Bryant entering the weekend, while also trailing only Miami’s Shakima Wimbley (23.35) in the No. 2 spot in the rankings.
Other Lady Tigers winning their 200-meter heats during the competition were sophomore Rushell Harvey and freshman Aleia Hobbs. Harvey was the first to cross the finish line in the sixth heat with a time of 24.52 that stood for a finish of 20th place, while Hobbs clocked 24.48 in her collegiate debut in the event to win the seventh heat and finish in 18th place overall.
Martin wasn’t LSU’s only 200-meter runner to crack the Top 10 of the national rankings on Friday night as Acy opened his season with a sprint of 21.16 to win the second heat and claim second place overall in the men’s final with the 10th-fastest time nationally. After USC’s Andre De Grasse won the first heat in 20.80, Acy cemented second place in the second heat ahead of Illinois’ Brandon Stryganek (21.66).
Norwood added LSU’s second victory on the evening when he proved to be the class of the field in the men’s 600-yard run, crossing the finish line more than two seconds ahead of his nearest competitor with his gold-medal-winning run of 1 minute, 8.84 seconds. Texas’ Byron Robinson (1:10.93) followed in second place after winning the first heat, while Longhorn teammate Derrell Manhertz (1:11.83) followed in third place.
Norwood’s time was just four one-hundredths of a second shy of his PR of 1:08.80 that established a South Plains College school record at Texas Tech’s Red Raider Open during his 2013 season before arriving at LSU.
Brown was the Tiger turning heads in the field events as he produced one of the nation’s leading performances in the men’s weight throw while taking home a second-place finish in the event. After opening the meet with a personal best of 63-9 set in his season opener at the LSU Indoor Invitational back on Jan. 9, Brown smashed his best with a mark of 67-0 ¾ in the third round to qualify for the final in fourth place.
He then fouled twice in the fourth and fifth rounds in the final before stepping into the circle one final time and unleashing a lifetime best of 68-6 ½ to emerge as the NCAA’s No. 13-ranked performer in the event in an impressive runner-up finish. Virginia’s Jordan Young finished just over a foot clear of Brown with a leading mark of 69-10 ¼ in the third round to take home the title.
Brown’s performance not only saw him soar up the national rankings into the No. 13 spot this season, but also moved him up four spots to No. 4 on LSU’s all-time indoor performance list in the weight throw event.
Brown, known mostly for his prowess in the discus throw outdoors as an All-American and LSU’s school-record holder in that event, has suddenly emerged as a threat to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships for the first time in his collegiate career as one of the early-season surprises for the 10th-ranked Tigers.
Also finishing on the cusp of the NCAA’s Top 10 on Friday was Friar, who opened with a seasonal-best jump of 20-5 ¾ to take fifth place in the women’s long jump with the NCAA’s No. 11 mark in the event.
Other Tigers and Lady Tigers turning in personal bests during Friday’s action at the Nutter Field House were senior Philip Primeaux with a 17-second indoor record of 14:37.05 for 12th place in the men’s 5,000 meters and junior Shanice Hall with a first-attempt clearance at 5-9 ¾ to tie for fourth place in the women’s high jump.
The Lady Tigers put an exclamation point onto the end of an outstanding opening day at the Rod McCravy Memorial with one of the leading performances in school history in the distance medley relay as they posted a seasonal-best time of 11:25.98 to emerge as the fourth-fastest team of Lady Tigers all-time and the fifth-fastest team in the NCAA for the 2015 indoor season.
Running with a team of sophomore Chaiss Matthews (1,200 meters), freshman Keterra Harris (400 meters), junior Andria Aguilar (800 meters) and sophomore Morgan Schuetz (mile), the Lady Tigers slashed more than nine seconds off of their previous seasonal best of 11:35.51 entering the meet that was set in a victory at the Auburn Indoor Invitational at the Birmingham Crossplex a week ago.
The Lady Tigers crossed the finish line in sixth place behind the likes of Arkansas B (11:02.80), Florida (11:08.19), Baylor (11:09.35), Oregon (11:12.12) and Arkansas C (11:25.36) as this race featured the nine fastest times at the collegiate level for the 2015 season.
Saturday’s action at the 2015 Rod McCravy Memorial Track & Field Meet continues at 10 a.m. CT with the first field events of the day followed by the first events on the track at 11 a.m. The competition will come to a close with the running of the men’s and women’s 4×400-meter relays beginning at 3:05 p.m. Fans can receive live updates of the Tigers and Lady Tigers competing during Saturday’s finale at the Nutter Field House with a follow of @LSUTrackField on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lsutrackfield and by liking LSU Track & Field on Facebook at http://facebook.com/lsutrackfield.