The Tigers earned a pair of top-10 team finishes at the NCAA Championships during the 2015 season as they followed a tie for seventh place indoors by winning their second-straight fourth-place team trophy outdoors at Oregon’s Hayward Field last June. Leading the way were nine All-Americans in such event areas as the sprints, hurdles, relays and throws as the Tigers again earned their place among the top teams in collegiate track and field once again.
They will follow a similar formula for success again in 2016 as they return five All-Americans to this year’s squad to help power a national championship run this spring. Led by returning All-Americans Tremayne Acy, Fitzroy Dunkley, Cyril Grayson, Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Jordan Moore along with their powerful relay teams as NCAA title contenders and a heralded recruiting class, the pieces are in place for the Tigers to contend for their first national championship since the 2004 season.
First in a 10-part series previews the men’s sprints and relays that are sure to burn up the track during the 2016 season.
Men’s Sprints & Relays
2015 proved to be a banner season for LSU’s sprinters as World Champion Vernon Norwood made history with an NCAA-title sweep in the men’s 400-meter dash and the Tigers’ 4×400-meter relay team raced to the NCAA Outdoor crown to wrap up the fourth-place team trophy for the program at the NCAA Championships in Eugene.
Also led by All-American performances by Tremayne Acy and Aaron Ernest in the 200-meter dash and a bronze-medal-winning third-place finish in the 4×100-meter relay, the Tigers scored their 14th top-five team finish at the NCAA Championships in the past 16 seasons and their 17th top-four trophy finish in history.
There is no doubt that the foundation of the LSU Track & Field program has been built on its success in the sprints and relays throughout its history as the Tigers feature one of the NCAA’s more talented rosters year in and year out in their quest for a national championship.
The 2015 season closed the book on two of the most decorated careers in the team history as Norwood capped his senior season as a three-time NCAA Champion on the year and Ernest added three more All-America honors to his resume as one of the NCAA’s leading sprinters in his four seasons in Baton Rouge. Their numbers speak for themselves as they combined for five NCAA titles, three Southeastern Conference titles and 19 All-America honors during their respective careers in Baton Rouge with the Tigers.
A native of nearby Morgan City, Louisiana, Norwood enjoyed one of the most prolific seasons by a 400-meter sprinter in the history of collegiate track and field as he became the 14th sprinter all-time to sweep both the NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor titles in the event. That while also anchoring the Tigers to the NCAA Outdoor crown in the 4×400 relay and lining up as the second leg in the 4×100 relay throughout his senior season.
After opening his outdoor season with a lifetime best of 44.44 seconds at the LSU Alumni Gold meet last April, Norwood went on to break the 45-second barrier three other times during the 2015 season with efforts of 44.76 in being crowned the SEC Outdoor Silver Medalist in the conference final and 44.94 in the quarterfinal round at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds.
But it was his 44.80 in placing third at the USA Outdoor Championships that made a statement on the international stage as Norwood earned his place on Team USA going to Beijing for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics last summer. That’s where he was crowned a World Champion for the first time while running for the United States in the 4×400-meter relay in his championship debut.
While also lining up on LSU’s NCAA Indoor Champion 4×400-meter relay team in 2014, Norwood captured four NCAA titles and eight All-America honors himself in a prolific two-year career in Baton Rouge.
Ernest kicked off his collegiate career with the Tigers four years ago as a three-time All-American in his first NCAA Championships experience in 2012, including running on LSU’s NCAA-title-winning 4×100-meter relay in that season. He went out last spring as one of the most decorated sprinters in program history as a three-time SEC Champion and 11-time All-American in four seasons from 2012-15.
Ernest’s senior season was highlighted by reclaiming the SEC Indoor crown in the 200 meters that he first won as a sophomore in 2013 before following Acy as the fifth-place finisher in the final in the event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships while running the fastest wind-aided time of his career at 20.11w. He also anchored the Tigers to the NCAA Outdoor bronze medal in the sprint relay in his final appearance for LSU.
Ernest’s name dots the team’s all-time performance lists with personal-best times of 6.67 in the 60 meters, 10.12 in the 100 meters and 20.53 indoors and 20.14 outdoors in the 200 meters while in Baton Rouge.
While the Tigers must replace the likes of Norwood and Ernest from a senior-laden squad a year ago, Acy returns alongside an outstanding recruiting class that is sure to pace the Tigers once again in 2016. Acy gives LSU a solid block to build around after emerging as one of the NCAA’s top sprint talents during a breakout sophomore season in 2015.
After finishing in 12th place overall in the 200-meter semifinals in his debut at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Acy took it a step further and earned a lane in his first national final at Oregon’s Hayward Field last June as he sprinted to a career-best wind-aided time of 20.04w for an All-American fourth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The reigning SEC Outdoor Bronze Medalist advanced to the NCAA’s 200-meter final after racing to a personal-best wind-legal time of 20.17 (+1.8) in the semifinal round to rank third on LSU’s all-time list in the event.
Acy very nearly advanced to the NCAA final in the 100-meter dash as well when he clocked his wind-legal PR of 10.16 (+1.7) for 12th place in the semifinal round to tie for the No. 8 spot in school history.
A native of Dallas, Texas, and product of DeSoto High School, Acy is the lone member of LSU’s bronze-medal-winning 4×100-meter relay team returning from this season as he teamed with a trio of senior leaders in the likes of Norwood, Ernest and hurdle All-American Joshua Thompson to run a seasonal-best time of 38.62 in the sprint relay final at the NCAA Championships.
Among those looking to help fill the void in the sprint relay pool are two returning standings in junior All-American Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and junior sprint hurdler Jordan Moore. Mitchell-Blake returns after claiming two All-America honors in the 4×100 relay as a freshman in 2013 and sophomore in 2014 before taking a redshirt a year ago. Moore, who was part of the team’s sprint relay pool in his first season with the Tigers in 2015, could slot into Thompson’s spot on the leadoff leg for the first time in 2016.
LSU’s heralded 2015 recruiting class will be called upon to fill out the sprint relay pool with the likes of junior college transfer Renard Howell from South Plains College and Oral Roberts transfer Tinashe Mutanga likely to contend for a spot in the lineup. Howell (10.67/20.46w/20.62) won the junior college national title in the 200 meters a year ago, while Mutanga (10.41w/20.99) also joined the team in the fall.
Norwood is not the only member of LSU’s national champion 4×400-meter relay team that must be replaced as nine-time All-American Quincy Downing leaves a void in the leadoff spot that must also be filled.
Downing, who made his name as one of the NCAA’s leading 400-meter hurdlers in his time with the Tigers, ran a brilliant first leg to put the team in position to challenge for the national title in their final race in the 2015 season. With Downing leading off and Norwood running anchor, the Tigers clocked a winning 3 minutes, 1.96 seconds to finish more than a half second ahead of the Florida Gators for the national title.
LSU does return its second and third legs from its NCAA-title-winning team as Fitzroy Dunkley and Cyril Grayson both return for their senior seasons with the Tigers in 2016 as they eye a defense of their crown.
Dunkley, a converted high jumper and triple jumper in his first two seasons in Baton Rouge, was outstanding in his first full season competing in the 400 meters a year ago when he ran a personal best of 45.78 en route to an appearance in the national quarterfinals at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in 2015. Grayson, who owns a personal best of 46.23 in the open 400, has been a staple in LSU’s 4×400-meter relay lineup throughout his collegiate career while earning five All-America honors in six NCAA Championship appearances since 2013.
The Tigers are sure to benefit from the addition of two All-American transfers to give them one of the NCAA’s leading mile relay teams yet again this season as former Florida State star Michael Cherry and former Ohio State standout LaMar Bruton will wear the purple and gold for the first time during the 2016 season.
While the Tigers cruised to the NCAA title in the event last June, Bruton ran on Ohio State’s relay team that also earned All-America honors with a fourth-place finish nationally in the 4×400 relay to end the NCAA men’s competition. Bruton was a three-time NCAA semifinalist in the 400 meters in his two seasons with the Buckeyes while clocking a lifetime PR of 45.67 as a sophomore in 2015.
Last season’s ACC Outdoor Champion in the 400-meter dash, Cherry arrives in Baton Rouge as one of the top quartermilers returning to the NCAA ranks this season after sprinting to a personal best of 45.37 for his final season with the Seminoles. A former All-American in his own right in the 4×400 relay, Cherry also lined up in the NCAA semifinals in the open 400 meters before electing to transfer to LSU.