BATON ROUGE – After throwing an NCAA-leading personal best of 77 feet, 3 ¾ inches to win the Auburn Invitational weight throw title on Saturday afternoon, LSU senior Johnnie Jackson was recognized Tuesday as the Southeastern Conference Men’s Co-Field Athlete of the Week for his performance in his season opener.
The former junior college national champion arrived at the Birmingham Crossplex with a personal best of 70-5 ¾ to his credit that earned him NCAA qualification as a junior with the Tigers a season ago.
He came within inches of that mark with a throw of 70-0 ¼ on her very first attempt of the 2017 season before setting a personal best for the first time Saturday with a mark of 72-3 on his third attempt to take over first place heading into the final round of throws. Jackson then unleashed his NCAA-leading personal best of 77-3 ¾ in the fourth round to become the No. 2-ranked Tiger in the event all-time.
Jackson, who also recorded a throw of 76-1 ¾ in the fifth round of his series, finished nearly 10 feet clear of the field as Alabama’s Elias Hakansson was runner-up with his best throw of the day at 67-4 ¾. The LSU senior also emerged with the NCAA lead by nearly four feet as he soared past the previous best of 73-8 ¼ set by Alabama’s Daniel Haugh at the Commodore Invitational last week.
Jackson even moved to within 10 inches of Walter Henning’s school record of 78-1 in the event that still stands as the meet record at the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships in the men’s weight throw.
It marks the second-straight week in which an LSU athlete has been honored as an SEC Athlete of the Week following the weekend. Freshman Ruby Stauber was chosen as the SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week on Jan. 17 after running a big indoor PR of 2 minutes, 4.56 seconds in her collegiate debut in the 800 meters, which now ranks No. 4 in the NCAA rankings this season.
LSU’S SEC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK FOR 2017
SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Jan. 24 – Johnnie Jackson
SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week
Jan. 17 – Ruby Stauber