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.
Fourth in a 10-part series previews the men’s jumpers that are looking to bounce back from an injury-plagued season last spring to make their mark in 2016.
Men’s Jumps
LSU’s jumpers are looking to bounce back from a 2015 season in which the group was plagued by injuries when the likes of two-time NCAA Championship qualifier Jonathan Pitt missed much of the indoor season and in-state recruit Da’Quan Bellard was forced to redshirt outdoors while battling a season-ending injury.
Despite only competing in two meets during his sophomore season indoors a year ago, Pitt bounced back to qualify for the triple jump field at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds for the second-straight season after he jumped a career-best wind-aided mark of 50 feet, 10 inches (+2.3) at the LSU Alumni Gold last April.
And when stepping onto the runway at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Pitt soared to a wind-legal PR of 50-8 ¼ (+0.9) to earn a career-best 16th-place finish at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds.
A native of South Brunswick Township, New Jersey, and product of South Brunswick High School, Pitt nearly scored for the Tigers at the SEC Championships for the first time in his career when he jumped a windy mark of 50-6 ¼ (+3.0) for a 12th-place finish in qualifying to kick off the championship season. He eclipsed the 50-foot mark in the triple jump a total of five times during his sophomore season in 2015.
Pitt was recently crowned this year’s LSU Team Pentathlon men’s champion as the top overall athlete in the testing competition held during Thanksgiving as he raised his score by more than 60 points from a year ago.
After signing with the Tigers as the top jumps prospect in the state of Louisiana during his high school career at Opelousas High School, Bellard saw his freshman season cut short due to injury while competing in a total of seven meets in his rookie season in the program. He will look to build upon his prep performance when he set personal bests of 24-3 in the long jump and 49-6 in the triple jump while at Opelousas High School.
The Tigers also feature a trio of 16-foot pole vaulters on the roster in 2016 as junior Cameron Robichaux, sophomore Jonathan Nelsen and freshman Chadd Burns will look to earn a spot in the scoring positions while on the runway at the SEC Championships this season. Robichaux leads the group with lifetime best clearances of 16-6 ¾ indoors and 16-3 ¼ outdoors during his collegiate career. The Mandeville native nearly scored for his team at the SEC Championships for the first time last season when he tied for ninth place in the pole vault at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Nelsen, who also hails from Mandeville, Louisiana, has cleared a lifetime best of 16-1 ¼ in the event, while Burns will make his collegiate debut in 2016 with a personal-best clearance of 16-3 set during his prep career at nearby Catholic High School in Baton Rouge.