SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – The emergence of former Lady Tiger All-American Lynnika Pitts as one of the leading triple jumpers in the United States continued Friday when she jumped a career-best wind-aided mark of 46 feet, 0 inches with her very first attempt to win the bronze medal for Team USA at the 2015 North American, Central American & Caribbean Championships.
Pitts, who earned her place on Team USA by jumping a wind-legal personal best of 45-3 in a fourth-place finish at the USA Track & Field Championships back in June, put herself in medal contention from the first round of the competition when she hit the board and soared 46-0 (+4.2) to take second place into the second round.
The Prairieville, Louisiana, native and former three-time All-American certainly made the most of her international debut while climbing the medal podium at Costa Rica’s National Stadium on Friday afternoon.
Pitts dropped to third place in the field when Ana Jose Tima of the Dominican Republic jumped 46-0 ½ in the third round and 46-7 ½w in the fourth round, but solidified her grip on the bronze medal when she recorded back-to-back wind-legal PRs of 45-4 ¼ (+1.8) in the fifth round and 45-4 ½ (+1.5) in the sixth round to win her first career international medal.
Jamaica’s Shanieka Thomas was crowned the women’s triple jump champion at this year’s NACAC Senior Championships with her winning leap of 46-8 ¼ (+1.3) in the third round. Pitts was the top American in the field as she finished nearly one foot clear of fourth-place finisher Tamara Myers of Bahamas with a series-best mark of 45-2 ½w.
Rounding out the field for the women’s triple jump final on Friday afternoon were Trinidad & Tobago’s Ayanna Alexander (44-10 ¾) in fifth place, Dominican Republic’s Thea Lafond (44-7 ½w) in sixth place, Saint Lucia’s Sandisha Antoine (44-4 ¾w) in seventh place, Cuba’s Dailenis Alcantara (44-1 ½w) in eighth place and USA’s Christina Epps (42-0 ½w) in ninth place.
Four other LSU Track & Field alumni advanced to event finals on the track during Friday’s opener at the NACAC Senior Championships, including Americans Lolo Jones (12.82w) and Tenaya Jones (13.05) as the fastest and third-fastest qualifiers in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, Jamaican Samantha Henry-Robinson (11.01) as the second-fastest qualifier in the women’s 100-meter dash and Trinidadian Jamaal James (1:50.69) as the fourth-fastest qualifier in the men’s 800-meter run.