BATON ROUGE – After earning yet another top-five team finish while winning the fourth-place team trophy at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June, the LSU Tigers have strengthened their men’s roster for the 2016 season with the addition of 10 recruits who will soon wear the purple and gold and call Baton Rouge home.
Head coach Dennis Shaver and his staff will welcome five All-American transfers and five high school recruits from across the country as the Tigers look to contend for honors once again next season. They will head into the 2016 season riding an NCAA-leading streak of 18-straight years with a top-10 national finish in the men’s field since 1998.
The Tigers have also cracked the Top 5 in the in the final men’s team standings at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 14 of the last 16 seasons after retaining their fourth-place team trophy this spring.
Continuing their collegiate careers in Baton Rouge will be a pair of All-American 400-meter runners with Ohio State transfer LaMar Bruton and Florida State transfer Michael Cherry, former Oral Roberts sprinter Tinashe Mutanga and two junior college All-Americans in the form of sprinter Renard Howell of South Plains College and thrower Johnnie Jackson of Coffeyville Community College.
Sprinters Jaron Flournoy (Detroit, Michigan) and Donte Jackson (Metairie, Louisiana), middle distance standout Dajour Braxton (Las Vegas, Nevada), distance runner Jackson Fountain (New Orleans, Louisiana) and pole vaulter Chadd Burns (Baton Rouge, Louisiana) are among the high school recruits signing National Letters of Intent with the Tigers as part of their Class of 2015.
“After graduating a senior class like we had this season, it’s been important for our staff to replace those pieces in our team so that we can continue to achieve the level of success we’ve come to expect here at LSU on a national level,” Shaver said. “I think we’ve done a great job of that with some key additions that we think will be a great fit in our program.”
The Tigers proved to be among the country’s leading performers in the 400-meter dash during the 2015 season with senior Vernon Norwood being crowned the NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor champion in the event and the team capturing the NCAA Outdoor title in the 4×400-meter relay in their final race of the 2015 season.
LSU looks to defend its NCAA titles as two of the NCAA’s leading 400-meter sprinters will soon arrive on campus as Bruton and Cherry are set to enroll for the start of the fall semester on Monday of next week.
Cherry is now a Tiger following a two-year stint at Florida State where he was a three-time NCAA semifinalist in the 400-meter dash between the indoor and outdoor seasons, while also earning All-America honors as a member of Florida State’s 4×400-meter relay team during the 2014 indoor season. As a sophomore, Cherry was the 10th-place finisher indoors and ninth-place finisher outdoors with his performance in the semifinals of the 400 meters at the NCAA Championships as a leader of Florida State’s sprint squad.
Cherry was also crowned the 2015 ACC Outdoor Champion in the 400 meters while clocking a seasonal-best time of 45.43 in the conference final. His personal-best time of 45.37 was set as a freshman at Florida State by lining up in the national quarterfinals at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds and earning his first ever trip to the national semifinals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
The Chesapeake, Virginia, native left Tallahassee after two seasons ranked No. 3 indoors (46.31) and No. 7 outdoors (45.37) on Florida State’s all-time Top 10 performance list in the men’s 400-meter dash.
Bruton emerged as one of the NCAA’s leading 400-meter runners during his sophomore season at Ohio State in 2015 as he was a NCAA semifinalist in the event in both the indoor and outdoor seasons, while anchoring the Buckeyes to an All-American fourth-place finish nationally in the 4×400-meter relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Oregon’s Hayward Field.
A three-time NCAA semifinalist in the 400 meters and three-time All-Big Ten performer in two seasons with the Buckeyes, Bruton posted his lifetime best of 45.67 in the quarterfinal round at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds to highlight his 2015 season. The Wilmington, Delaware, native was also the Big Ten Outdoor Silver Medalist in the 400-meter dash during his sophomore season in Columbus.
The Tigers welcome a third sprinter from the NCAA Division I ranks to the program as Mutanga also arrives in Baton Rouge following two seasons at Oral Roberts University where he claimed the 200-meter silver medal at the Southland Conference Outdoor Championships during his freshman season in 2014 among his accolades.
A native of Harare, Zimbabwe, Mutanga is also a former two-time silver medalist at the African Junior Championships while clocking career-best times of 10.41w in the 100 meters and 20.99 in the 200 meters.
Also bolstering the Tigers’ stable of sprinters is Howell, who was most recently crowned the junior college national champion in both the 200 meters and 4×100-meter relay while leading South Plains College to its ninth team title in a row at the 2015 National Junior College Athletics Association Outdoor Track & Field Championships held back in June.
Howell was crowned the NJCAA Outdoor Champion in the men’s 200-meter dash with a winning run of 20.96 (+1.1) in the final after posting a career-best wind-aided time of 20.46 (+3.0) as the top seed in the semifinal round. He also lined up as the second leg on South Plains’ national champion 4×100-meter relay team that took the title with a time of 39.99 in the 2015 national final.
Howell, who is originally from Bensalem, Pennsylvania, and is a product of Trenton Central High School, set his personal bests in both the 100 meters and 200 meters as a freshman at South Plains College in 2014, where he clocked a wind-legal 10.67 (+1.9) in the 100 meters at the UTSA Invitational in San Antonio and a wind-legal 20.62 (+1.3) in the 200 meters at Texas Tech’s Red Raider Open during the 2014 season.
Johnnie Jackson is one of the most decorated throwers from the junior college ranks to ink a National Letter of Intent with an NCAA Division I program in the Class of 2015 as he is a two-time NJCAA Indoor Champion in the 35-pound weight throw and a two-time NJCAA Outdoor Silver Medalist in the hammer throw during his time at Coffeyville Community College.
Jackson actually set the NJCAA indoor national record in the weight throw with a personal-best mark of 66-9 ¼ to win the event at the 2015 NJCAA Region VI Indoor Championships en route to defending his NJCAA title with a winning throw of 63-5 at the national meet to finish off his sophomore season indoors.
Jackson, who has earned four NJCAA All-America honors in his two seasons at Colleyville Community College, set the school record in the hammer throw outdoors with a lifetime best of 208-6 in claiming the event title at the Pittsburgh State Gorilla Classic during his sophomore season in 2015. He also threw 201-0 in the event while defending his NJCAA Region VI Outdoor title in the event this season.
A native of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, and product of Cherry Hill East High School, Jackson also owns a personal-best mark of 174-2 in the discus as he will look to make his mark in the event while in Baton Rouge.
“We’ve got some great experience coming in with five transfers all achieving great success already at the collegiate level. That’s very important for us in reloading our roster for next season,” Shaver said. “I think we’ve really done a great job keeping our foundation strong in the sprints and relays in this class, while also adding some national-caliber talent in the throws that should help us in the field events.”
LSU’s sprint squad is even stronger with the likes of Flournoy and Donte Jackson joining the program from the high school ranks as they will line up as freshmen when they lace up their spikes during the 2016 season.
Not only is Jackson a five-star defensive back recruit as part of LSU’s heralded Class of 2015 on the football field this year, but he is also the No. 1 sprint recruit in the state of Louisiana in the class as a two-time Louisiana Class 4A state champion in both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash during his prep career at Riverdale High School in Metairie.
After sweeping state titles for the first time as a junior in 2014 with wind-aided times of 10.42 (+2.7) and 21.42 (+2.4), respectively, Jackson defended both of his Class 4A state titles as a senior in 2015 when he sprinted to career-best times of 10.30 (+3.8) in the 100 meters and 21.26 (+0.6) in the 200 meters in the state finals held at LSU’s Bernie Moore Track Stadium back in May.
Tiger fans will get their first chance to see Jackson in action this fall when he steps onto the football field as a five-star standout and the No. 10-ranked recruit nationally regardless of position by 247Sports.
Flournoy is a state champion sprinter in his own right after sweeping Division I state titles in the state of Michigan in both the 100 meters and 200 meters during his senior season at Westland John Glenn High School for the 2015 outdoor season. He took both titles in his final state meet after clocking a wind-legal PR of 10.56 (+1.0) in the 100 meters and a winning wind-aided time of 21.25 (+5.3) in the 200 meters.
Flournoy recorded his two fastest 200-meter times under all conditions at the 2015 AAU Junior Olympics National Championships this summer where he ran 21.01 (+4.5) and 21.07 (+0.8) in the qualifying rounds.
Flournoy emerged on the national stage during his senior season indoors in 2015 when he cracked the Top 10 of the national high school rankings in four different sprint events. He ranked No. 6 nationally with a best of 6.78 in the 60 meters, No. 4 nationally with a best of 21.16 in the 200 meters, No. 6 nationally in the 300 meters with a best of 33.93 and No. 5 nationally with a best of 47.35 in the 400 meters for the 2015 indoor season.
Not only have the Tigers signed two of the nation’s leading high school sprinters in their Class of 2015, but they are also excited to welcome one of the nation’s emerging middle distance runners by signing Braxton to a National Letter of Intent following his distinguished prep career competing for Centennial High School in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After being crowned the state cross country champion in the fall of 2014, Braxton followed on the track during the 2015 outdoor season by winning the Nevada Division I state title in the 1,600 meters before arriving on the LSU campus. He set personal bests of 1:53.31 in the 800 meters, 3:54.52 in the 1,500 meters and 4:07.79 in the mile during his senior season at Centennial High School in 2015.
Braxton is also an accomplished runner on a national level as a four-time medalist in his age group while competing at the AAU Junior Olympics National Championship. That includes winning a bronze medal in the 1,500 meters and a silver medal in the 3,000 meters in 2013 and sweeping silver medals in both events in 2014.
Burns is another state champion set to join the Tigers after jumping personal-best heights of 15 feet, 6 inches indoors and 16-3 outdoors while competing in the pole vault for Catholic High School in Baton Rouge. Burns was crowned the Louisiana Division I Indoor state champion in 2014 while also winning back-to-back Class 5A Outdoor silver medals in 2014 and 2015 as one of the state’s leading pole vaulters.
Fountain rounds out an outstanding recruiting class for the Tigers as a standout distance runner at Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, where he had top times of 4:31.57 in the 1,600 meters and 9:50.96 in the 3,200 meters on the track. He earned fourth-place finishes in both events in his final appearance at the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools Class 5A State Championships as a senior in 2015.
Originally from New Orleans, Fountain won a pair of TAPPS Class 5A state bronze medals during his junior season in cross country in 2013 and in the 3,200 meters on the track in 2014 at Liberty Christian School.
“Our work as coaches never stops as we look to keep this program competing on a national level year in and year out,” Shaver said. “Recruiting is only part of that. We’re excited to get each of these young men here to campus so we can really start developing them and providing them with the kind of training base they need to achieve at the highest level next season.”