BATON ROUGE — Looking perhaps its sharpest of the season, the LSU track and field team dominated its final regular season home meet, recording 16 NCAA qualifying marks, breaking two stadium records and recording a world leading mark at the LSU Alumni Gold Relays at Bernie Moore Track Stadium on Saturday.
“We had just an incredible day,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “This is as sharp as we’ve been all year. The quality of the performances we got today is just amazing. To break two stadium records at a venue like this, to get a world leading mark, that speaks volumes of the kind of day we had today.”
LSU combined to record six NCAA automatic qualifying marks and to go along with 10 provisionals.
For the third consecutive week triple jumper Keisha Spencer broke a stadium record, while pole vaulter Russ Buller did so for the second time in three weeks. Spencer won the triple jump with a wind-aided mark of 46 feet 1 + inches. Her winning mark does not count as a record due to a wind of over 2.0 meters per second, but her second jump of 45-5 was a legal mark and broke the 13-year-old record of 42-2 + set by Sheila Hudson in 1987.
Buller then continued his hot streak, breaking his own stadium record he set at the same meet a year ago. He best his previous mark of 18-6 + with a winning mark of 18-6 +. He then moved the bar to 19-0 +, but failed to negotiate the height.
Peta-Gaye Dowdie matched the fastest time in the world in the 100-meter dash with her winning time of 11.21 seconds. The senior All-American exploded out of the blocks and improved to 2-0 on the season in the 100. Teammate Valma Bass finished second with a personal best time of 11.43, an NCAA provisional mark.
The Lady Tigers opened the day on fire, as the group of Joyce Bates, Bass, Myra Combs and Dowdie uncorked an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 43.91 in the 4×100-meter dash. The Lady Tigers’ time was the second fastest in the nation this year.
For Bass and Bates, it was the beginning of extremely productive days. In addition to the runner-up finish recorded by Bass in the 100, she finished second to former LSU All-American Astia Walker in the 200, with a time of 23.07, just off the automatic standard and a virtual lock for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Bates continued her torrid pace during the outdoor season improving to 4-0 in the 100-meter hurdles with her fastest wind-legal time of the year, 13.03. April Sams finished third in 13.59, the fourth time in five outings this season she has registered a provisional mark.
Claudine Williams demonstrated the form that made her an NCAA champion in the 800-meter run a year ago, winning the half mile on Saturday in a season-best time of 2:05.53, just off the automatic standard.
The Tigers opened their day in similar fashion, blowing away the field in the 4×100-meter relay with a season-best provisional time of 39.52, as the foursome of Carlos Garcia, Derrick Brew, Deryell Patterson and Dwhyte Barrett were particularly crisp on their exchanges. Brew later went on to win the 400-meter title in a season-best NCAA provisional time of 45.68.
Elsewhere on the track, Greg Scott picked up where he left off in his second place finish at the Texas Relays with a sizzling 13.80 to win the 110-meter hurdles title. The sophomore blasted clean through the first five hurdles and never looked back, just missing the 13.78 he recorded in Austin a week ago.
Marcus Thomas finished third in the men’s triple jump, but recorded the Tigers other NCAA automatic qualifier on the day. Thomas finished third behind former American champion LeMark Carter and former NCAA champion Ndabe Mdhalongwa with a jump of 53-8.
The Tigers got a pair of solid performances in the field, as Javier Nieto and Alex Forst both posted wins. Nieto moved to ninth in the nation in the hammer with a provisional toss of 216-3, while Forst came up with a provisional throw of 191-0 to win the discus.
Other winners for LSU on Saturday included Monique Freeman in the women’s long jump, Jill Lipp in the women’s shot put, Bridget Cusack in the 3,000-meter run, J.J. Barton in the men’s high jump and Christian Nehme in the men’s shot put.
LSU returns to Austin, Texas for the second time in three weeks next weekend. LSU will be joined by 14 of the premier track and field programs in the nation at the USTCA Championships at Mike A. Myers Track Stadium on the campus of the University of Texas next Friday and Saturday.