ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Sophomore All-American Mikiah Brisco became the second Lady Tiger in as many days to sprint to the NCAA’s third-fastest time in an event when she lined up in Saturday’s 60-meter final at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic and raced to the finish line in 7.23 seconds to take the title at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Junior teammate Jada Martin stormed to victory in the women’s 200 meters on Friday night with an indoor personal best of 23.03 to become the NCAA’s No. 3-ranked sprinter in the event this season.
It was Brisco’s turn in Saturday’s finale at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic as she took her mark in the final of the women’s 60-meter dash and sprinted to the finish line in 7.23 to finish nearly one tenth of a second in front of adidas athlete Octavious Freeman in second place with a time of 7.32. Unattached athlete Ashley Marshall trailed well back in third place at 7.38 for the bronze medal.
Brisco entered the weekend in a three-way tie for the No. 3 spot in the NCAA rankings with her seasonal-best time of 7.26 run just two weeks ago at the Conference Clash Power Five Invitational. She came away from Saturday’s final in sole possession of the No. 3 national ranking in the event as her winning 7.23 adjusted for altitude to a seasonal-best time of 7.25.
Brisco bounced back in a big way from earlier in the day when she hit the first hurdle in her semifinal heat of the 60-meter hurdles and struggled to the finish line in 8.83 for 15th place overall.
“It shows the kind of mentality Mikiah had today to come back from a disappointment like that in the hurdles and turn in a season’s best in the (60-meter) dash like she did,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “That is the kind of competitiveness we want to see from our athletes each time they step out there to compete. Mikiah certainly showed that today.”
Brisco was among three Lady Tigers lining up in the women’s 60-meter final as she was followed across the line by freshman Kortnei Johnson (7.40) in fourth place and junior Rushell Harvey (7.53) in eighth place.
Junior Jordan Moore regained the form that saw him emerge as an early-season NCAA-title contender in the 60-meter hurdles when he raced to a personal best and NCAA-leading time of 7.69 at the Conference Clash Power Five Invitational in Birmingham two weeks ago. He proved to be the class of the field among collegians this weekend with a runner-up finish in Saturday’s final.
Only a winning run of 7.60 by reigning Olympic Gold Medalist and outdoor world-record holder Aries Merritt separated Moore from the top spot on the podium as he finished runner-up with a time of 7.68.
Moore’s 7.68 in Saturday’s final adjusted for altitude to 7.70 for his second-fastest time of the 2016 season after his seasonal best and personal best of 7.69 that remained tied atop the NCAA rankings with Oral Roberts freshman Israel Nelson entering the weekend. Trinidad & Tobago international Mikel Thomas trailed in third place at 7.69, while Texas Tech’s Chris Caldwell was second among collegians at 7.80.
Fellow junior Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake followed with a bronze-medal-winning third-place finish in the final of the men’s 60-meter dash as he followed his semifinal time of 6.72 with a run of 6.74 in the final to trail both unattached runners Odean Skeen (6.65) and Keenan Brock (6.68) across the finish line. Like Moore, Mitchell-Blake was the top collegian in the field in his event in Saturday’s finale.
Mitchell-Blake helped the Tigers wrap up the meet with a fifth-place finish in the men’s 4×400-meter relay as he ran the third leg for a team that also featured freshman Jaron Flournoy, senior Morgan Wells and junior Matthew Rhorer. They clocked 3 minutes, 13.59 seconds to finish behind Trinidad & Tobago (3:09.97), Southern California (3:10.13), Alabama (3:10.50) and BYU (3:10.84) in the final standings.
Rhorer was the only LSU athlete to post a personal best in Saturday’s finale at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic as he stopped the clock in 49.68 to finish runner-up in the seventh heat and 25th overall in the men’s 400 meters. Rhorer’s 49.68 adjusted for altitude to 49.79 to eclipse his previous indoor best of 51.03 by nearly a second and a half.
Rhorer’s time was among 11 indoor personal bests turned in by the Tigers and Lady Tigers on the weekend as they also combined for two NCAA Top 5s, two LSU all-time Top 10s and four event wins over two days.
The Lady Tigers nearly capped the meet with a fifth event win as they finished runner-up to the USC Trojans in the women’s 4×400-meter relay. While USC ran away from the field with the NCAA’s second-fastest time this season at 3:31.48, the Lady Tigers followed in second place in 3:42.54 with a team of sophomore Kymber Payne, senior Kiersten Duncan, junior Christian Brennan and junior Ka’Lynn Jupiter.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers are now just a few weeks from the start of the championship season at the SEC Indoor Championships later this month as they continue their preparations next weekend with a trio of meets by playing host to the LSU High Performance Meet on Saturday, Feb. 13, and traveling to the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and Iowa State Classic in Ames over two days from Feb. 12-13.