LOS ANGELES, Calif.- Russ Buller and Keisha Spencer set stadium records at venerable Cromwell Field on the campus of Southern California, leading the LSU track and field team at the USC Centennial Invitational Saturday afternoon.
Buller, the NCAA indoor pole vault champion, won the men’s pole vault title, taking the national lead in the event with a mark of 18-5.
Spencer, the NCAA indoor triple jump champion, won the women’s triple jump with a mark of 45-5, just missing Suzette Lee’s LSU record of 45-8.
While Buller and Spencer excelled, LSU head coach Pat Henry did not get the overall performance his team was looking for as they headed out to Los Angeles for the first time since 1997.
The Lady Tigers opened the track portion of the contest by dropping the baton in the 4×100-meter relay, while moments later the men’s short relay was disqualified for an exchange outside the zone.
“We had some great individual performances, but overall it was a pretty mediocre day as a team,” said Henry. “We were hoping to get a little bit more accomplished today and didn’t. If one or two things happen for us it’s a great meet, but we fell a little short today.”
While instances like the short relay may have been a concern for Henry, both teams still came up with a number of quality performances.
Peta-Gaye Dowdie delivered a message Saturday afternoon, defeating defending NCAA 100-meter champion Angela Williams of Southern California in the short sprint. Dowdie won in a modest NCAA provisional qualifying time of 11.44 to the 11.46 run by Williams.
Joyce Bates continued her hot streak, winning the 100-meter hurdles in a time of 13.08, m atching her time of a week ago. Greg Scott made it a clean sweep for LSU in the short hurdles, taking the men’s 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.00.
NCAA 400-meter runner-up Derrick Brew took a break from the quarter after posting a victory in Baton Rouge last week, but experienced similar results in the 200-meter dash. Brew ran an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 20.70. Brew blasted out of the blocks and defeated U.S. indoor champion Chris Chandler of Nebraska to pick up the win.
After running a five second personal best while winning the 1,500 last weekend, Frans Schimper moved down to the 800 this weekend and the results remained the same. Schimper ran a season-best time of 1:51.00 to win the half mile title.
Other quality finishes for LSU came from J.J. Barton who finished second in the men’s high jump, Myra Combs who finished second in the women’s 400-meter dash, Alex Forst, who finished second in the men’s discus, Javier Nieto, who finished second in the men’s hammer throw and the men’s 4×400-meter relay which finished second.
LSU returns to action on Thursday when both squads travel to Austin, Texas for the 73rd running of the prestigious Texas Relays.