STARKVILLE, Miss. – The No. 2-ranked LSU Tigers are on the scoreboard at the 2015 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships as senior Jeremy Tuttle threw a seasonal best of 211 feet, 3 inches in the men’s hammer throw and junior Travis Pope ran a personal best of 30 minutes, 33.11 seconds in the men’s 10,000 meters on Thursday at the Mike Sanders Track Complex.
Tuttle scored the first three points of the championship for the Tigers as his seasonal-best throw held up for a sixth-place finish in the men’s hammer final in their first event of the day. Pope later closed the day with a nearly one-minute personal best, adding one point with an eighth-place finish in the men’s 10k while scoring for the Tigers at the SEC meet for the first time in his collegiate career.
It was the prelude to an outstanding first day of competition for the LSU Track & Field teams as four Tigers and five Lady Tigers also qualified for SEC finals in the meet’s first preliminary races on the track.
“The first day at these championships is always about setting yourself up to be successful at the weekend, and I think our teams did an outstanding job of that today” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “We’re on the board with Jeremy and Travis picking up a few points for us, so that was a highlight for us today. We also qualified very well on the track, which is what you need to really get going this weekend.
“This is as competitive a meet as you’re going to find anywhere in the country outside of the NCAA Championships, so it’s going to be just as intense tomorrow. We need to keep it going.”
Tuttle got the Tigers off to a fast start in Thursday’s opener at this year’s SEC Outdoor Championships when he posted a seasonal-best throw of 211-3 to score three points with a sixth-place finish in the men’s hammer final. Tuttle eclipsed his previous best for 2015 of 210-10 from his last appearance at the LSU Invitational on May 2.
Tuttle qualified for the hammer throw final at the SEC Championships for the third time in his collegiate career when he threw 204-6 in the third round for eighth place in the field in the preliminary round. He moved up two spots with a seasonal-best throw of 211-3 in the fourth round, and held onto sixth place over the final two rounds of throws in the final for three points in the event.
Georgia’s Alex Poursanidis defended the SEC hammer title he first won a season ago as he opened the competition with his top throw of the day at 223-11 in the first round. Ole Miss’ Dempsey McGuigan followed just over four feet behind Poursanidis in second place as he threw 219-6 in the third round for the silver medal, while Florida’s Kyle Strawn opened with a best of 214-0 in the first round for the bronze medal.
Tuttle also trailed Georgia’s Alex Larsson (213-6) in fourth place and South Carolina’s Clarence Gallop (212-2) in fifth place overall, while LSU’s Patrick Geers added a 12th-place finish with a seasonal best of 193-5.
By opening his final SEC Championship with a sixth-place finish in the hammer throw on Thursday afternoon, it marked the third time in Tuttle’s collegiate career to score points for the Tigers at the conference meet as he also earned a career-best fourth-place finish as a freshman in 2012 and claimed an eighth-place finish one year later as a sophomore in 2013.
A senior from Sierra Vista, Arizona, competing in his final SEC Championship as an LSU Tiger, Tuttle later ended his day by stepping onto the javelin runway as he threw a series-best of 203-3 on his second attempt for a 13th-place finish in the men’s competition. Junior teammate Terry Hughes followed in 15th place with a best on the day of 197-6.
The Tigers then went out with a bang on the opening day of the championship when Pope turned in a scoring performance in the men’s 10,000 meters, slashing nearly one full minute from his previous personal best in a run of 30:33.11 for eighth place overall. Pope, who entered the meet with a previous PR of 31:26.24 set earlier this spring, knocked LSU alum and current Summit League commissioner Tom Douple off the school’s all-time Top 10 list in the event while becoming the No. 10-ranked 10,000-meter runner in program history.
Douple had held onto the 10th and final spot in the school’s all-time rankings in the event for 41 years after clocking his collegiate best of 30:40.8 during his junior season with the Tigers in 1974.
With his efforts, Pope became the first LSU runner in seven years to finish among the scoring places in the men’s 10,000-meter race at the SEC Championships as former Tiger distance standout Joseph Simuchimba was the last to do so in back-to-back seasons as the SEC Outdoor Bronze Medalist in 2007 and the seventh-place finisher at the conference championship in 2008.
Florida’s Eddie Garcia was crowned the SEC’s 10,000-meter champion with a winning time of 29:48.39, followed by Arkansas’ Frankline Tonui (29:52.17) in second and Georgia’s Luke Baker (29:52.19) in third.
Pope (30:33.11) rounded out the SEC scorers on the evening as the eighth-place finisher in the event following Auburn’s Ty McCormack (29:55.97) in fourth place, Georgia’s Zack Sims (29:56.88) in fifth place, Mississippi State’s Damian Roszko (30:21.23) in sixth place and Texas A&M’s Ryan Miller (30:23.97) in seventh place across the finish line in the race.
“What a tremendous effort by Travis to score his first point for our team at an SEC meet,” Shaver said following Pope’s finish. “And to do it while running nearly a full minute faster than he had previously run this year is really outstanding. It shows that he lined up knowing that he could challenge for one of those scoring positions, and that’s the kind of effort that he gave us tonight.”
LSU’s half-milers set the early pace on the track as senior Julian Parker and sophomore Morgan Schuetz kicked off the evening session by qualifying for Saturday’s 800-meter finals at this year’s SEC Championships.
Parker battled sophomore teammate Blair Henderson to the finish line in the fourth and final preliminary heat of the men’s 800 meters as he crossed the finish line 1 minute, 48.84 seconds head of Henderson’s 1:48.89 for the runner-up spot. Henderson came up just a split-second short of advancing to the final on time as his run of 1:48.89 was good enough for 12th place overall in qualifying.
Schuetz secured her spot in the women’s 800-meter final at the SEC Outdoor Championships for the second-straight season when she crossed the finish line with the second-fastest time of the day at 2:04.29, trailing a winning run of 2:04.02 by Mississippi State’s hometown favorite Rhianwedd Price as the two fastest qualifiers of the day.
After finishing sixth at the SEC Outdoor Championships a year ago and fourth at the SEC Indoor Championships earlier this season, Schuetz is eyeing All-SEC honors as one of the SEC’s leading 800-meter runners for the first time in her collegiate career as the No. 2 seed in the field with a seasonal-best time of 2:03.12 to her credit. Her qualifying time of 2:04.29 on Thursday was the second-fastest in her time as a Lady Tiger.
It was a race that featured three Lady Tigers as freshman Hannah Deworth clocked a personal best of 2:10.98 for 14th place and freshman Danielle Avery raced to a seasonal best of 2:13.39 for 18th place in qualifying.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers picked up the pace moments later when three of LSU’s four athletes lining up in Thursday’s qualifying round of the 200-meter dash earned their lanes in Saturday’s finale while clocking three of the fastest times of the day. Sophomore Tremayne Acy crossed the finish line with a wind-legal personal best of 20.70 (-0.9) to win the fourth heat of the men’s 200 meters with the second-fastest time overall. He’ll be joined in the final by senior Aaron Ernest, who qualified fourth overall with a time of 20.92 (-1.5) for second place in the second heat.
Lady Tiger sophomore Jada Martin will line up in the women’s 200-meter final at the SEC Outdoor Championships for the first time in her collegiate career after qualifying on time with an effort of 23.25 (-1.1) in the fifth and final qualifying heat. Martin’s 23.25 held up as the fifth-fastest time of the evening as she took second place in the heat with her second-fastest 200-meter sprint of the season.
The teams wrapped up Thursday’s qualifying with a furious finish as senior Quincy Downing, junior Chanice Chase, sophomore Ka’Lynn Jupiter and freshman Daeshon Gordon all advanced to Saturday’s final in the 400-meter hurdles. Downing was actually the only qualifier to break 50 seconds in the men’s prelims with a run of 49.95 to win the third heat with the top time of the day.
Chase was the top Lady Tiger to qualify for the final in the 400-meter hurdles as she stopped the clock in 57.87 for the runner-up spot in the third and final heat of the women’s prelims. Gordon and Jupiter qualified for their first career SEC final in the event with personal bests as Gordon clocked 58.03 for second place in the first heat and Jupiter raced to the finish line in 58.67 for second place in the second heat.
“You see it at the SEC meet each year where you really need to run at or near your seasonal best to even make the final,” Shaver said. “That really was the case again today. There were guys running 1:47 who were not even able to make the 800 final, things like that. That’s the level you need to reach to be successful here. We have another big day of qualifying when we come back here tomorrow.”
In LSU’s opening event, freshman Sidnie Wilder threw 173-3 in the third round for 10th place and freshman Gabby Figueroa threw 169-0 in the first round for 12th place in the women’s hammer throw.
The competition continues for the LSU Track & Field teams on Friday with the first field-event finals of the afternoon at 2 p.m. CT followed by the first preliminary races on the track beginning at 3:45 p.m. Friday’s event schedule goes through the running of the men’s and women’s steeplechase at approximately 6:45 p.m. at Mississippi State’s Mike Sanders Track Complex.
Friday’s action at the 2015 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships will feature live streaming video of events online at ESPN3.com and through the SEC Network+ on the WatchESPN from 3:40-6:50 p.m. CT.
Mississippi State University in conjunction with Branch Sports Technology will provide live results throughout the weekend at the SEC Outdoor Championships events are available at http://branchsportstech.com. Fans can also receive live updates and behind-the-scenes coverage of the Tigers and Lady Tigers with liking LSU Track & Field on Facebook at http://facebook.com/lsutrackfield and by following @LSUTrackField on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lsutrackfield and Instagram at http://instagram.com/lsutrackfield.