DURHAM, N.C. — LSU All-American Marcus Thomas finished third in the men’s long jump, highlighting a strong opening day for the LSU track and field team, as the NCAA Outdoor Championships got underway Wednesday at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, N.C.
In addition to Thomas’ tremendous performance, LSU advanced both its men’s and women’s 4×100-meter relays and two sprinters into the women’s 200-meter semifinal round. The Tigers are in fifth place after one day of competition with the long jump being its only scoring opportunity of the day, while the Lady Tigers will not have a scoring opportunity until Thursday.
“We had as good a day as we could have possibly had today,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “Marcus continues to come up big for us. Some athletes live for the big meets and Marcus is that kind of competitor. Both relays looked very good and we advanced well in the 200 so, overall, it was a very productive day for us.”
Thomas became the Tigers’ first All-American in the event since 1995 with a jump of 26 feet 3/4 inches, just off his personal best. Thomas was in seventh place after the preliminary round and didn’t move into third place until his second-to-last attempt. Thomas’ jump moved him past world-leader Melvin Lister of Arkansas who finished fourth after winning the event a year ago.
“I was a lot more aggressive in the final round,” said Thomas. “I struggled a little in the prelims but I felt like I had a big jump in me. I finally got my approach corrected and put it all together on my fifth jump.”
The Tigers opened up the track portion of Wednesday’s schedule with a season-best time of 39.31 in the 4×100-meter relay, advancing to Friday’s final. The foursome of Carlos Garcia, Derrick Brew, Deryell Patterson and Dwhyte Barrett finished third in their preliminary heat and ran the fifth fastest overall time on the day. The time is the Tigers’ fastest since the 1998 NCAA Championships.
Moments later the Lady Tigers delivered a message to the rest of the women’s 4×100-meter relay field, blazing to a season-best time of 43.24, winning their heat with ease while recording the fastest qualifying time of the day.
A year ago the Lady Tigers failed to get the stick around in the preliminary round. The foursome of Joyce Bates, Valma Bass, Myra Combs and Peta-Gaye Dowdie had four clean exchanges to give the Lady Tigers the top lane for Friday’s final.
“I thought about it a little bit, but this is an opportunity to put last year behind us,” said Bates, involved in last year’s foul exchange in Boise. “We got some clean exchanges and we got the lane we wanted for the final. It’s
going to be a fast and we’re going to have to have another clean race on Friday.”
Dowdie and Bass looked particulary sharp in the 200-meter dash prelims, as both won their heats and advanced to Friday evening’s semifinals. Dowdie ran the fastest qualifying time of the day, clocking a season-best 22.69, the only sub-23 second time on the evening.
Bass concluded the preliminary round, taking the fourth and final heat with a time of 23.29 despite operating out of lane eight. Dowdie and Bass will both look for similar results in the women’s 100-meter prelims on Thursday.
Loren Leaverton completed the first day of competition in the heptathlon and sits in 14th place with three events remaining. Leaverton came up with a first-day total of 3,168.
Auburn leads the men’s competition after the first day with a 16-point showing in the men’s hammer throw. Sophomore Gabor Mate won the event, while teammate Reedus Thurmond finished third.
BYU leads the women’s competition with 18 points after a 1-2 sweep in the 10,000-meter run.
The NCAA Championships continue on Thursday with a busier day for both teams. Javier Nieto will attempt to become the Tigers’ first All-American in the hammer since 1993, as the men’s competition gets underway at 10 a.m. CT. Also competing in the field on Thursday will be Russ Buller, searching to become the first LSU man since 1933 to win the NCAA Outdoor title, and Keisha Spencer and Monique Freeman in the long jump.
On the track, the LSU sprinters will get in a solid day of work, as preliminary rounds will be held in the 110 and 100-meter hurdles, the 100 and 400-meter dashes and the 4×400-meter relay.
NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Wallace Wade Stadium
Durham, N.C.
Day One Results
Men’s Results
Team Scores – 1, Auburn, 16. 2, Ole Miss, 10. 3 (tie), Arizona State, Wyoming, 8. 5, LSU, 6. 6 (tie), Texas A&M, Arkansas, 5. 8 (tie), Colorado State, Alabama, 4. 10 (tie), Boise State, Northern Arizona, Prairie View A&M, 3. 13, Notre Dame, 2. 14, TCU, 1.
Field Events
Discus- 1, Gabor Mate, Auburn, 215-8. 2, Jason Gervais, Wyoming, 206-1. 3, Reedus Thurmond, Auburn, 203-7. 4, Tolga Koseoglu, Texas A&M, 203-6. 5, Casey Malone, Colorado State, 201-7. 6, Nick Petrucci, Northern Arizona, 200-6. 7, Jarred Rome, Boise State, 200-1. 8, Mark Hoxmeier, Boise State, 197-11.
Long Jump- 1, Savante Stringfellow, Ole Miss, 26-9 3/4. 2, Dwight Phillips, Arizona State, 26-7 3/4. 3, Marcus Thomas, LSU, 26-0 3/4. 4, Melvin Lister, Arkansas, 26-0. 5, Miguel Pate, Alabama, 25-6. 6, Ronald Nelson, Prairie View A&M, 25-6. 7, Marshaun West, Notre Dame, 25-2 3/4. 8, Darvis Patton, TCU, 24-11.
Women’s Results
Team Scores- 1, BYU, 18. 2, SMU 10. 3, Nebraska, 8. 4 (tie), Arkansas, Wyoming, 6. 6 (tie), California, Colorado, UCLA, 5. 9, Wisconsin, 4. 10 (tie), Southern California, Michigan, 3. 12 (tie), Connecticut, Boise State, 2. 14, Belmont, 1.
Field Events
Hammer Throw- 1, Florence Ezeh, Southern Methodist, 211-10. 2, Melissa Price, Nebraska, 210-9. 3, Robin Lyons, Wyoming, 206-9. 4, Jennifer Joyce, California, 204-1. 5, Christina Tolson, UCLA, 203-6. 6, Jennifer Vail, Southern California, 201-11. 7, Bethany Hart, Connecticut, 198-7. 8, Cari Soong, UCLA, 197-7.