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.
Third in a 10-part series previews the men’s middle distance and distance runners that are sure to contend for honors once again during the 2016 season.
Men’s Middle Distance & Distance
The Tigers took a big step forward in their performance in the middle distance and distance events a year ago under the direction of assistant coach Khadevis Robinson as Julian Parker was crowned the SEC Outdoor Champion in the 800 meters while being joined at the NCAA Championships by teammate Blair Henderson.
Parker ended his collegiate career as a senior in 2015 as one of the NCAA’s leading half-milers as he smashed his lifetime best with a run of 1 minute, 46.17 seconds to become the fifth LSU Tiger to win the SEC Outdoor crown in the event in program history. That effort also ranked him No. 3 on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the 800-meter run.
Henderson also showed tremendous progress from his freshman season to his sophomore season under Robinson’s leadership while advancing to the NCAA quarterfinals for the first time in the two-lap race.
A native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Henderson nearly matched Parker with a seasonal-best and personal-best time of 1:47.03 that he ran in a third-place finish at the LSU Invitational in the squad’s regular-season finale to become the seventh-fastest 800-meter runner in the team’s illustrious history. He also clocked 1:47.91 to win the 800-meter title at LSU’s Battle on the Bayou in his outdoor opener in 2015.
Henderson hopes to contend for All-America honors for the first time in his collegiate career in 2016 as he returns for his junior season as the team’s leading middle distance runner back in the squad. He is also a strong 1,500-meter runner with a lifetime best of 3:46.52 that he set a year ago at the LSU Alumni Gold meet last April.
Robinson has recruited some outstanding depth in the middle distance and distance events in his two seasons with coaching LSU’s runners as Bossier City native Jack Wilkes enjoyed a strong debut season at LSU a year ago when he clocked personal bests of 1:50.86 indoors and 1:50.66 outdoors in the 800 meters, 3:54.50 in the 1,500 meters and 4:14.73 in the mile as a true freshman.
Christian Johnson returns alongside Wilkes for his sophomore season following a freshman campaign in 2015 in which he posted personal bests of 3:53.44 in the 1,500 meters and 9:20.38 in the steeplechase. During this fall’s cross country season, Johnson was recognized as a First-Team All-Louisiana cross country runner by the Louisiana Sports Writers Association.
The future of LSU’s middle distance and distance group appears very bright after Las Vegas, Nevada, native and Centennial High School product Dajour Braxton signed his National Letter of Intent with the Tigers as part of the program’s 2015 recruiting class. Braxton was a three-time Nevada Division I state champion and four-time AAU Junior Olympics medalist during his high school career while signing with the Tigers with PRs of 1:53.31 in the 800 meters, 3:54.52 in the 1,500 meters and 4:07.79 in the mile.
Braxton made an immediate impact on LSU’s cross country team in the fall when he was named the SEC Men’s Freshman Cross Country Runner of the Year after scoring two wins at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Festival and LSU Invitational meets and earning a 30th-place finish in his debut at the SEC Cross Country Championships. He was also named Louisiana’s Runner of the Year and Freshman of the Year by the LSWA.
Other Tigers competing in 2016 include Tommy Brocato, Jackson Fountain, Hayden Kingfisher, DC Lipani, Felipe Pelaez, Matthew Rhorer, Austin Santacruz, Bryan Stamey, Daniel Tanner and Marcus Tiner.