The Tigers earned a pair of top-five team finishes at the NCAA Championships during the 2016 season as they followed a trophy-winning fourth-place finish indoors by placing fifth nationally outdoors at Oregon’s Hayward Field last June. Leading the way were nine All-Americans in such event areas as the sprints, hurdles and relays as the Tigers again earned their place among the top teams in collegiate track and field.
They return six All-Americans to this year’s squad while adding a number of All-American caliber athletes in the field events to help fuel a national championship run this spring. Led by the likes of Tremayne Acy, LaMar Bruton, Michael Cherry, Jaron Flournoy, Renard Howell and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake along with their powerful relay teams as NCAA-title contenders and the nation’s No. 4-ranked recruiting class, the pieces are in place for the Tigers to contend for their first national championship since the 2004 season.
Second in a nine-part series previews the men’s middle distance and distance runners that are sure to contribute during the 2017 season.
Middle Distance & Distance
The 2017 season will see senior middle distance runner Blair Henderson line up in an LSU uniform for the final time as he will team with sophomore distance standout Dajour Braxton in setting the pace for their event group as the Tigers embark on what they hope will be a championship season this spring.
A native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, and product of St. Louis Catholic High School, Henderson will contend for All-America honors for the first time as one of the nation’s top returning 800-meter runners with his career-best time of 1 minute, 47.03 seconds to his credit.
Henderson has advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals in the 800 in each of the last two seasons while coming up just two places shy of advancing to the national semifinals with a 14th-place finish overall at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds as a junior a year ago. He clocked a seasonal-best time of 1:47.30 in the event in 2016 after posting his lifetime best of 1:47.03 as a sophomore two seasons ago.
Henderson is certainly one of the SEC’s premier middle distance runners returning for the 2017 season after lining up in three SEC finals between the 800 meters and 1,500 meters to highlight his junior season.
After scoring four points for the Tigers with a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter final at the 2016 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships, Henderson totaled six points for the team with two sixth-place finishes in both the 800 meters and 1,500 meters at the SEC Outdoor Championships as one of the team’s top individual point scorers during the meet.
Braxton looks to build momentum from another outstanding cross country season and contribute for the Tigers in the distance events on the track as a sophomore this spring. After being recognized as the SEC Men’s Freshman Cross Country Runner of the Year in 2015, Braxton was an All-South Central Region performer for the first time this fall after placing 11th individually at the NCAA South Central Regional.
Braxton, who hails from Centennial High School in Las Vegas, Nevada, established himself as one of the 10 fastest milers in school history during his freshman season when he clocked a personal-best time of 4:05.29 as the No. 9-ranked Tiger on LSU’s all-time indoor performance list. He also set personal bests of 3:46.04 in the 1,500 meters, 8:24.16 indoors and 8:22.49 outdoors in the 3,000 meters and 14:26.52 in the 5,000 meters.
Braxton also nearly scored for the Tigers in his debut appearances at the SEC Championships a season ago while placing 11th individually in the 3k indoors and 10th in the 5k outdoors at the conference meet.
Bossier City, Louisiana, native Jack Wilkes made his NCAA Championships debut in the 800 meters last spring while lining up at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds where he ran 1:49.83 in qualifying. Wilkes also improved nine places at the SEC Outdoor Championships from his freshman season as he was 14th overall in 800-meter qualifying last May. He finished the season with a lifetime best of 1:49.40 run at the LSU Invitational.
Senior Christian Johnson also nearly earned his place in the scoring positions at the SEC Outdoor Championships last May when he ran his personal-best time of 9:09.12 for 13th place overall in the steeplechase.
Other Tigers looking to make an impact in the middle distance and distance events during the 2017 season will be juniors DC Lipani and Marcus Tiner; sophomores Tommy Brocato, Bryan Stamey and Daniel Tanner; and freshmen Jackson Fountain, Alex Harp, Harrison Martingayle, Kyle Montgomery, Josef Schuster