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.
Fourth in a nine-part series previews the men’s throwers that look to compete among the nation’s best during the 2017 season.
Men’s Throws
With NCAA Champion Walter Henning and All-Americans Rodney Brown and Michael Lauro consistently among the team’s top performers in recent years, LSU’s throws group has been instrumental in the Tigers’ success while piling up the points in the championship meets at the conference and national level.
And two-time SEC finalist and NCAA Championship qualifier Johnnie Jackson is back for his senior season to carry the torch as he has his sights set on All-America honors for the first time as an LSU Tiger.
Jackson, a former junior college national champion during his time at Coffeyville Community College prior to his arrival in Baton Rouge last year, proved to be one of the SEC’s leading performers in both the weight and hammer throws during the 2016 season while earning sixth-place finishes in both events at the SEC Indoor and SEC Outdoor Championships.
He solidified his qualification for the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships when he threw a personal record of 70 feet, 5 ¾ inches in winning the weight throw crown at the LSU Twilight and becoming the No. 3-ranked Tiger all-time in the event. That performance makes Jackson one of the top returning collegians for the 2017 season.
Jackson followed outdoors by stepping into the hammer cage at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds for the first time where he placed 19th overall with a top mark of 211-3 in NCAA competition. His seasonal best of 217-1 at the Texas Relays proved to be one of the top marks in the NCAA ranks for the 2016 season and moved him into the No. 4 spot on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the event.
Jackson nearly matched his personal best in the hammer throw final at the SEC Outdoor Championships where he threw a series-best of 215-11 on his sixth and final throw of the meet for three points for the Tigers.
Also an accomplished discus thrower during his collegiate career, Jackson matched his junior college personal best in his debut season with the Tigers with a seasonal-best throw of 174-2 at the LSU Invitational to finish off the regular season. He will open his final outdoor season with the Tigers on the cusp of the Top 10 of LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the event.
Joining Jackson in LSU’s throws group this season will be a pair of first-year javelin throwers for the Tigers in sophomore Logan Martindale and freshman Andre Girouard. Girouard has thrown a personal best of 185-0 in the event while twice being crowned a Louisiana Class 1A state champion at Vermillion Catholic High School, while Martindale was a two-time district champion during his time at Hahnville High School.