BATON ROUGE – A summer of international competition continues for LSU Track & Field athletes and alumni as eight former Tigers and Lady Tigers head to San Jose, Costa Rica, this weekend to compete at the 2015 North American, Central American & Caribbean Senior Athletics Championships that begin Friday at Costa Rica’s National Stadium.
The three-day competition kicks off for LSU’s alumni on Friday with the first round of the women’s 100-meter dash at 11 a.m. CT and runs through Sunday with the men’s 4×400-meter relay at 7:25 p.m.
Three North American and Caribbean nations will be represented by these former LSU All-Americans as Lolo Jones (100 hurdles), Tenaya Jones (100 hurdles) and Lynnika Pitts (triple jump) will compete for the United States; Samantha Henry-Robinson (100 meters, 200 meters, 4×100 relay), Jonique Day (4×400 relay) and Riker Hylton (4×400 relay) will compete for Jamaica; and Jamaal James (800 meters, 4×400 relay) will compete for Trinidad & Tobago. Henry-Robinson is the first scheduled to compete in Friday’s 100-meter qualifying.
In fact, Henry-Robinson and Tenaya Jones both enter the competition having already medaled for their respective countries at the recent Pan American Games held in Toronto, Canada, two weeks ago as Jones scored the silver medal in the women’s 100-meter hurdles for the United States and Henry-Robinson led off Jamaica’s 4×100-meter relay team to the silver medal during the competition.
Tenaya Jones is in the midst of her best professional season as she has also clocked a wind-legal personal best of 12.72 seconds in the semifinal round en route to career-best sixth-place finish in the final of the hurdles at the USA Track & Field Championships held at Oregon’s Hayward Field back in June. She was also the USA Indoor Silver Medalist in the 60 hurdles after running an 8.03 personal best in March.
Also earning her place on Team USA with a career-best performance at the USATF Championships was Pitts, who jumped a wind-legal PR of 45-3 for fourth place in the triple jump in the championship final.
Lolo Jones and Hylton have also made their mark in the international stage during their athletics careers as Jones is a two-time Olympic finalist in the 100-meter hurdles, including a fourth-place Olympic finish in London in 2012, and Hylton is a former Jamaican Champion in the 400-meter dash and World Championships Bronze Medalist in the 4×400-meter relay.
Lolo Jones is currently the No. 10-ranked sprint hurdler in the World rankings for the 2015 outdoor season with her seasonal-best time of 12.65 run in Bellinzona, Switzerland, back on July 21, while Tenaya Jones follows her compatriot as the No. 16-ranked sprint hurdler worldwide this summer with her best of 12.72 set at the USATF Championships.
Time Schedule for LSU Entries at the 2015 NACAC Senior Athletics Championships
Note: Times are Central and subject to change based on round-by-round qualifying and weather delays.
Friday, August 7
11:00 a.m. – Women’s 100 Meters First Round (Samantha Henry-Robinson)
11:10 a.m. – Women’s Triple Jump Final (Lynnika Pitts)
12:00 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles First Round (Lolo Jones, Tenaya Jones)
1:50 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Semifinal (Samantha Henry-Robinson)
2:25 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles Semifinal (Lolo Jones, Tenaya Jones)
5:00 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters First Round (Samantha Henry-Robinson)
6:45 p.m. – Men’s 800 Meters Semifinal (Jamaal James)
7:00 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Semifinal (Samantha Henry-Robinson)
Saturday, August 8
4:10 p.m. – Men’s Long Jump Final (Kyron Blaise)
4:20 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles Final (Lolo Jones, Tenaya Jones)
5:15 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Final (Samantha Henry-Robinson)
6:55 p.m. – Women’s 4×100 Relay Final (Samantha Henry-Robinson)
Sunday, August 9
5:10 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Final (Samantha Henry-Robinson)
5:45 p.m. – Men’s 800 Meters Final (Jamaal James)
7:00 p.m. – Women’s 4×400 Relay Final (Jonique Day)
7:25 p.m. – Men’s 4×400 Relay Final (Riker Hylton, Jamaal James)