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Track & Field Wins Three Titles at SEC OutdoorsTrack & Field Wins Three Titles at SEC Outdoors

Track & Field Wins Three Titles at SEC Outdoors

Track & Field Wins Three Titles at SEC Outdoors

STARKVILLE, Miss. – Led by SEC-title-winning performances by seniors Rodney Brown and Julian Parker and sophomore Rebekah Wales in Saturday’s championship finale, the LSU Track & Field teams took home a pair of fourth-place team finishes at the 2015 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships held at Mississippi State’s Mike Sanders Track Complex.

While Brown was crowned an SEC Champion for the second time in his collegiate career as the winner of the men’s discus throw on Saturday afternoon, Wales struck gold in the women’s javelin and Parker crossed the finish line first in the men’s 800 meters as champions for the first time on a rainy Saturday in Starkville.

Their victories have now given the LSU Track & Field teams a combined 418 SEC event titles all-time at the SEC Outdoor Championships, including 281 wins by the Tigers and 137 wins by the Lady Tigers in meet history.

They led a furious finish to this year’s SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships by the Tigers and Lady Tigers as the teams combined for 13 all-conference performances on the final day of the competition.

The Tigers more than doubled their point total from a year ago with 92 points scored in three days of competition at Mississippi State’s Mike Sanders Track Complex to take home a fourth-place finish in the final men’s team race behind champion Florida with a winning score of 130.5 points and Arkansas and Texas A&M in a tie for second place with matching scores of 95 points for the weekend.

The Lady Tigers also outpaced their performance from the 2014 season as they tallied 84 points for a fourth-place finish of their own in the final women’s team standings. The Arkansas Razorbacks outlasted the field to win the women’s team title with 127.5 points, followed by Kentucky in second place with 99 points and Florida in fifth place with 83 points to round out the Top 5 teams in the women’s field.

“I couldn’t be more proud of a group of athletes than I am right now with how hard our teams fought and competed here this weekend,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver following the event. “You really can’t find a meet with this level of performance outside of the NCAA Championships as you do here in the SEC. Every event is like an NCAA final in itself, and gives us a great gauge about where we are at this stage.

“Just like you do at an NCAA Championship, when you come to the SEC meet you have to be ready to compete at your very best from the start to even make a final, much less score the big points for your team. I think we even outperformed maybe what I thought we could achieve at this SEC Championship. Hopefully this will be a catalyst for us as we go into the NCAA Prelims.”

With temperatures already soaring at the Mike Sanders Track Complex as competitors prepared for the start of the afternoon’s finals, Wales turned up the heat in the first event final on the day as she became just the fourth Lady Tiger in program history to be crowned the SEC Champion in the women’s javelin throw while turning in a personal-best performance.

Wales wasted no time in taking control of the competition as she let loose a career-best throw of 177 feet, 0 inches on her very first attempt to take the early lead in the first round of the second flight. She followed an opening 177-0 with marks of 166-7 in the second round and 164-4 in the third round to take a narrow lead into the finals over Georgia’s All-SEC and All-American performer Freya Jones.

Jones narrowed the gap to within three inches of Wales’ opener with a series-best mark of 176-9 on her third attempt of the preliminary round. Jones managed a best of 174-4 in the final on her last throw, but needed to settle for All-SEC honors in second place as the SEC Outdoor Silver Medalist for the 2015 season.

Rounding out the medalists in the women’s javelin was Texas A&M’s Kristen Clark, who unleashed her best throw of the day at 170-8 in the final round to climb into third place overall in the final standings.

Texas A&M’s Maggie Malone followed in fourth place overall with a top throw on the day of 163-9 (49.93m) in the second round, while senior Annie Simoneaux added four more points for the Lady Tigers by earning an impressive fifth-place finish with a personal-best throw of 163-9 (49.92m) on her sixth and final attempt of the afternoon. Simoneaux actually posted a pair of personal-best marks for her series as she first set a career-best of 159-10 on her second preliminary throw to take seventh place into the final.

Other scorers in the women’s javelin included Florida’s defending champion Fawn Miller (162-11) in sixth place, Florida’s Kike Oniwinde (160-0) in seventh place and Arkansas’ Amethyst Boyd (159-2) in eighth place.

But it was Wales stealing the headlines as she joined former All-Americans Laverne Eve (1987) and Cheryl Coker (1988) and former LSU standout Maria Romero (2004) as the Lady Tigers to be crowned an SEC Champion in the women’s javelin in the history of the SEC Outdoor Championships. Wales closed the competition with the third-best throw of her collegiate career at 175-0 in the final round.

“It’s been in my dreams these past few days, I’ve been so excited. I just had a feeling something good was going to happen, and it did,” Wales shared of her excitement to throw at these SEC Championships. “I kind of approached every throw like somebody was passing me. I needed to keep that competitiveness in me. I had some really good throws today, and that last one I knew I had won, so I just went for it then.”

Wales was not the only LSU thrower crowned an SEC Champion on the final day of this year’s SEC Championships as Brown took home the men’s discus title from the meet for the second time in his collegiate career as he proved to be the class of the field once again like he has throughout his senior season.

Despite having to warm up for the start of the second flight a second time after inclement weather delayed events for more than an hour, Brown uncorked an opening throw of 200-11 on his very first attempt to claim a lead he would not relinquish over the rest of the competition. Taking the early lead proved key as athletes were ordered to safety a second time when lightning delayed events again in the second round of throws in the second flight. It took fouls on his second and third attempts for Brown to regain his rhythm and put the competition out of reach in the final.

Alabama’s reigning NCAA Champion Hayden Reed closed the gap on Brown’s opener with his best throw of the day at 198-4 in the third round, but Brown put the title out of reach for his competitors as he improved to 203-11 in the fourth round and 208-4 in the final round to regain the SEC discus crown he first won as a sophomore in 2013.

Reed trailed exactly 10 feet behind Brown in the final standings with his silver-medal-winning throw of 198-4, while Florida’s bronze medalist Stipe Zunic finished nearly 15 feet back in third place with a best of 193-10 in the competition. Brown’s victory marked LSU’s 14th SEC-title-winning performance all-time in the men’s discus throw in the storied history of the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Tennessee’s Tavis Bailey threw 189-11 for fourth place on the final discus table, followed by Mississippi State’s Tautvydas Kieras in fifth place at 185-0, Ole Miss’ Kevin Conway in sixth place at 175-0, Georgia’s Nick Vena in seventh place at 173-3 and Georgia’s Ashinia Miller in eighth place at 172-1 to round out the eight scorers in the event behind Brown.

Brown, who remains the NCAA’s leading discus thrower with a seasonal-best and personal-best mark of 213-5 in 2015, became the fifth LSU Tiger all-time to be crowned the SEC discus champion twice in a career, while joining the likes of former world-record holder Jack Torrance (1933, 1934), Herb Graves (1947, 1948), Ron Hernandez (1963, 1964) and John Nichols (1988, 1989, 1990, 1992).

“This one felt better, this one definitely felt better,” Brown chuckled recalling the feeling of winning his second SEC title compared to his first. “My sophomore year I was just figuring out how to throw the discus. This is a better year for me because I’m better with it now. It’s a sweet start to the championship season, I can say that much for sure.

“The ring is wet for everybody, so there’s no excuses,” Brown added when talking about throwing in such wet conditions. “Everybody is competing in the same ring, so you just have to go into it saying, ‘I’m going to be better than them in these elements.’ My first throw kind of set the tone. From there on out there was no pressure, it was just going after it and seeing how far I could get it today.”

With Wales and Brown providing the fireworks in the field, it was Parker setting the track alight with an improbably victory in the men’s 800-meter final for a third SEC-title-winning performance on the day.

Parker qualified automatically for the final with his heat-winning time of 1 minute, 48.84 seconds in Thursday’s preliminary round, but his qualifying run was only the 12th-fastest among all runners in the field, and ninth-fastest among those advancing to the men’s final on Saturday afternoon. It also marked the first time for Parker to earn a lane in an 800-meter final at the SEC Championships in his collegiate career.

None of that seemed to phase the senior from Baton Rouge as he turned in the fastest 800-meter race of his life in the final, crossing the finish line first in 1:46.17 to claim the SEC Outdoor title for himself while posting 10 big points on the scoreboard for his team. And Parker did so while dethroning Mississippi State’s defending SEC and NCAA champion Brandon McBride on his home track at the Mike Sanders Track Complex.

Biding his time for much of the race, Parker came through the first 400 meters in fifth place overall with a 52.70-second first lap and held his position through the 500-meter and 600-meter marks. That’s the time Parker made his move as he sprinted past those in front around the final turn and powered past McBride through the finish line with a winning run of 1:46.17.

The Bulldog standout settled for the SEC silver medal on this day with a runner-up finish in 1:46.43, while Florida’s Andres Arroyo bagged the SEC bronze medal with a run of 1:46.49. Alabama’s Alex Amankwah took the fourth spot in 1:46.64, followed by Florida’s Ryan Schnulle (1:47.45) in fifth, Alabama’s Jacopo Lahbi (1:47.65) in sixth, Georgia’s Charles Grethen (1:48.61) in seventh and Ole Miss’ Holland Sherrer (1:48.87) in eighth.

After lining up with a previous personal best of 1:47.33 set earlier this season, Parker dropped his top time by more than one full second as his winning 1:46.17 moved him into a tie for the No. 6 spot nationally for 2015. He also vaulted six spots up the school’s all-time performance list as the No. 3-ranked 800-meter runner in school history.

The Catholic High School product also became the first LSU Tiger to be crowned the SEC Outdoor Champion in the event since former All-American Richard Jones back in 2010. Three other Tigers have also struck gold in the event at the SEC Outdoor Championships, including Robin van Helden in 1986, Jamaal James in 2007 and Elkana Kosgei in 2008, all of which went on to earn All-America honors in the event.

“I knew (Brandon) McBride was going to lead, so I just wanted to be behind him. They started taking off with 300 (meters) to take off, so I had to go with them,” Parker recalled of his strategy in the race. “When I went to catch them with about 150 left, I was like, ‘Okay, this is my opportunity to take advantage of it.’ I tried to take advantage of it to score as many points as I could for the team.

“I’m not surprised, really,” Parker added about his performance. “We’ve trained hard all season, so I knew I was ready to run well once we got to this part of the season. It happened at the right time today.”

LSU’s three champions were not the only Tigers and Lady Tigers turning in All-SEC performances in Saturday’s finale at the 2015 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the teams combined for 13 All-SEC efforts in their final day in Starkville with four silver medalists and six bronze medalists also achieving All-SEC status with a top-three event finish.

The Tigers got the ball rolling on the track when they sprinted to a seasonal-best time of 38.78 seconds for a silver-medal-winning second-place finish in the men’s 4×100-meter relay. Lining up with their team of senior Joshua Thompson, senior Vernon Norwood, sophomore Tremayne Acy and senior Aaron Ernest, the Tigers were beaten to the finish line by the narrowest of margins as Texas A&M took the men’s relay title in 38.74 in the NCAA’s two fastest times this spring. Alabama followed in third place in 38.87.

After leading the Tigers to a runner-up finish in the 4×100-meter relay, Acy and Norwood both turned in All-SEC performances in their individual events as Norwood clocked his second-fastest time of the season with a 44.76 to finish second in the men’s 400-meter dash and Acy raced to a wind-legal personal best of 20.52 (+0.6) to finish third in the men’s 200-meter dash in the meet’s finale.

Norwood followed Texas A&M’s Deon Lendore (44.41) across the finish line in the 400-meter final before anchoring the Tigers to an All-SEC runner-up finish in the men’s 4×400-meter relay with a seasonal-best time of 3:01.63. Running the seventh-fastest mile relay in school history were senior Quincy Downing, junior Cyril Grayson, junior Fitzroy Dunkley and Norwood as they finished second to Florida (3:01.60) in the race.

Both Dunkley and junior teammate Darrell Bush also lined up along with Norwood in the 400-meter final as Dunkley clocked a PR of 45.78 for fifth place and Bush crossed the finish line in 46.80 for eighth place. Downing added a career-best SEC Championship finish of fourth place in the final of the men’s 400-meter hurdles, clocking a personal best of 49.63 for the fifth-fastest performance in school history.

Acy raced to wind-legal personal bests in both sprint finals on Saturday afternoon as he stopped the clock in 20.52 (+0.6) for an All-SEC third place in the 200 meters and 10.20 (+0.4) for sixth place in the 100 meters.

Joining Acy in both sprint finals was Ernest, who was the SEC’s fourth-place finisher in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes after anchoring the Tigers to the SEC silver medal in the 4×100-meter relay. Ernest raced to the finish line in 10.19 (+0.4) in the 100 meters before wrapping up his championship with a seasonal-best sprint of 20.53 (+0.6) in the 200 meters.

Turning in one of LSU’s most impressive performances of the day was sophomore Jordan Moore, who lined up in the final of the men’s 110-meter hurdles in his debut appearance at the SEC Outdoor Championship. In one of the most exciting races of the day, Moore hurdled to a personal-best time of 13.47 (+1.9) to win All-SEC honors as the bronze medalist behind Arkansas’ Omar McLeod (13.28) and South Carolina’s Dondre Echols (13.46) with the three fastest times in the NCAA this season.

With a personal best of 13.47, Moore is now the second-fastest sprint hurdler in the history of the Tiger program, trailing only the school-record time of 13.32 by former national champion Barrett Nugent.

Thompson, who led off LSU’s 4×100-meter relay team to a runner-up finish earlier in the day, followed Moore in fourth place in the men’s 110-meter hurdle final with a personal-best run of his own at 13.55 to rank No. 4 in school history on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the event. His is also the fourth-fastest time in the NCAA this season.

The Lady Tigers nearly matched the effort of their male counterparts by racing to an All-SEC third-place finish in the fastest women’s 4×100-meter relay final in the history of the SEC Championships.

Only once in meet history had a team ever broken 43 seconds in the event when the Lady Tigers themselves set the previous SEC Championships meet record of 42.80 during the 2008 season. Four teams broke the 43-second barrier on Saturday afternoon as the Lady Tigers clocked a seasonal best of 42.80 for third place behind champion Texas A&M (42.61) and runner-up Florida (42.72) in what is surely a previous of the NCAA meet next month. Kentucky also clocked a blistering 42.85 for fourth place in the women’s sprint relay.

A youthful pool of Lady Tigers were awarded All-SEC honors with their performance as sophomore Rushell Harvey, freshman Aleia Hobbs, sophomore Jada Martin and freshman Mikiah Brisco broke their previous best of 43.23 this season by nearly a half second with the third-fastest time in the NCAA rankings for the 2015 season at 42.80.

Martin later earned All-SEC honors by winning a second bronze medal on the day, running the second leg of LSU’s 4×400-meter relay team that took third place with one of its fastest times of the season. She joined up with freshman Daeshon Gordon, sophomore Travia Jones and junior Chanice Chase in clocking 3:33.92 for an All-SEC third-place finish behind Florida (3:27.84) and Texas A&M (3:32.40).

Martin totaled six points individually as one of the team’s leading performers for the day as she also sprinted to times of 11.45 (+0.6) in the 100 meters and 23.20 (+0.9) in the 200 meters for a pair of sixth-place finishes in Saturday’s finals. She was joined in the women’s 100-meter final by Brisco, who added five points with a fourth-place finish as she clocked 11.36 in her finals debut at the SEC Outdoor Championships.

Martin was not the only member of LSU’s 4×400-meter relay team to score points in individual finals on the day as Chase clocked seasonal-best times of 13.05 (+1.8) in the 100-meter hurdles and 57.01 in the 400-meter hurdles in a pair of fourth-place finishes. Gordon followed Chase across the finish line in sixth place in the final of the 100 hurdles with a 13.24 clocking.

After earning her first career All-SEC honor as the SEC Outdoor Silver Medalist in the women’s long jump, Lady Tiger sophomore Nataliyah Friar solidified her reputation as one of the NCAA’s leading dual jumpers in the 2015 season with a bronze-medal-winning third-place finish in the women’s triple jump on Saturday.

And just as she did when she set a personal best in Friday’s long jump competition, Friar wasted no time in leaping to a personal best in triple jump qualifying on Saturday as she jumped a wind-legal 43-10 (+0.9) on her second attempt to take second place into the final. That mark held up for an All-SEC third-place finish as she followed Georgia’s Keturah Orji (46-4 ¼w) and Florida’s Ciarra Brewer (44-0 ½) in the final event standing and became the No. 5-ranked triple jumper nationally this spring.

Friar’s performance in Saturday’s championship finale came just one day after she soared to a career-best wind-aided mark of 21-10 ¾ to become the NCAA’s No. 2-ranked long jumper for the 2015 outdoor season.

Also claiming All-SEC honors with their performance on the final day of the meet were senior All-American Tori Bliss with a throw of 55-11 ¾ for second place in the women’s shot put and sophomore Morgan Schuetz in a time of 2:05.09 for third place in the women’s 800 meters. Bliss, the NCAA’s leading shot putter this season, suffered just her second defeat in 12 shot put appearances on the season.

Other athletes scoring points for the teams on the afternoon were senior Andreas Duplantis with a clearance of 17-1 ½ for fifth place in the men’s pole vault and sophomore Ka’Lynn Jupiter with a new PR time of 58.55 for seventh place in the women’s 400-meter hurdles while running in her first career SEC final.

“Our athletes really stepped it up across the board here this weekend. I’m so proud of the way in which they competed throughout the track meet,” Shaver said. “There are more important meets to come, and we do need to carry this momentum with us when we go to Jacksonville in a couple of weeks for the start of the NCAA Championships.”

After kicking off the championship season at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships this weekend, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will now turn their attention to the NCAA Championships and the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds that will be held at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville from May 28-30. The semifinal and final round of the 2014 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships will then follow for June 10-13 at the University of Oregon’s Hayward Field in Eugene.