COLUMBIA, S.C. — Walter Davis became the first LSU man in over a decade to win the SEC Outdoor long jump title while rain interupted action on day three of the SEC Championships at Weems Baskin Track in Columbia, S.C.
Just over 30 minutes prior to the scheduled start of the track events, a storm blew into Columbia, delaying the meet for more than three hours.
Due to severe rain and lightning in the area, track events were not able to get underway until 9:45 p.m. ET. Several field events were contested earlier in the day.
After competition resumed and was eventually completed at nearly 1 a.m. ET, both teams found themselves in fourth place heading into the final day of action.
It was billed as perhaps the top event of the competition and the men’s long jump final certainly delivered.
Davis won the latest match-up with rival Savante Stringfellow of Ole Miss in a classic, coming up with his winning mark of 26-9 1/4 on the final event of the competition.
Davis led the competition through the preliminary rounds with a jump of 25-11 on his third attempt. Things began to heat up in the fifth round, however. Stringfellow came up with a jump of 26-6 1/2, then Miguel Pate of Alabama followed with a jump of 26-5 3/4 dropping Davis back to third. On his fifth attempt, Davis narrowed the gap with a mark of 26-4 1/2. Neither Stringfellow or Pate were able to improve in the sixth and final round setting the stage for Davis’ dramatic jump.
“I was going to put something out farther than him (Stringfellow) if I didn’t foul on my last attempt,” said Davis.
With his effort, Davis became the first LSU man to win the SEC Outdoor long jump title since 1989 and it gave the junior a sweep of the conference titles, as he won the indoor title in February.
On Sunday, Davis will attempt to become only the fifth man in SEC history to sweep the horizontal jumps, as he will be the favorite to take the triple jump title.
Traun Smith came up with a strong effort, placing sixth in the long jump with a jump of 24-6 1/2, just off his personal best.
After no-heighting at the SEC Indoor Championships, Daniel Trosclair came up big for the Tigers, tying for sixth place in the pole vault with a clearance of 16-3 1/2.
When action resumed, Lolo Jones advanced in the women’s 100-meter hurdles despite suffering from a stomach virus. The freshman won her heat in a time of 13.46 to advance to Sunday’s final.
Muna Lee won her section of the 100-meter dash in a time of 11.46, but in a surprise, was the only Lady Tiger to advance to Sunday’s final.
LSU’s quarter milers looked sharp, as Alleyne Francique won his heat in a time of 46.24 and advanced to Sunday’s final, while Lueroy Colquhoun finished second in his heat, but posted the fifth fastest time of the day and advanced.
Ronetta Smith won her heat in ease with a well-paced 53.66 to advance to Sunday’s final.
The Lady Tigers picked up eight critical points on Saturday in the one women’s final that was contested. Susanne Strunz continued her hot streak and finished second in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, recording a time of 10:23.64. The time was just off her season best despite terrible conditions at nearly 1 a.m. ET.
The second place finish by Strunz was the best finish by a Lady Tiger in a distance event since 1997.
LSU was unable to advance anyone in the men’s 110-meter hurdles or either 1,500-meter run.
Due to the weather two events were rescheduled for Sunday. The women’s long jump will be contested at 10 a.m. The women’s discus got underway before the weather hit, but was suspended and will be continued at noon on Sunday.
Notes
* With the win, Davis regained the coveted Superman shirt, a shirt that goes to the victor when Davis and Stringfellow compete against each other. The shirt is actually Stringfellow’s. Walter claimed the shirt in the first exchange at the SEC Indoor Championships before Stringfellow reclaimed it. Stringfellow then held on to it with wins at the Texas Relays and LSU Alumni Gold Relays. Davis defeated Stringfellow at Penn but he did not bring the shirt with him. The rivalry is tied at 4-4 with the deciding match-up to come at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in three weeks. The rivalry between the two goes back further than their SEC days. The two both went to the Sydney Olympics for the United States – Stringfellow inherited Davis’ spot in the long jump when Davis vacated it to concentrate on the triple jump.
* Davis became the first LSU man to win the event since Llewellyn Starks in 1989.
* Davis’ winning mark of 26-9 1/4 was achieved with a wind of 2.6 meters per second, making it ineligible for records purposes. His fifth round jump of 26-4 1/2 was legal, however, and ranks third in school history.
* The meet was suspended at 6:25 p.m. ET and delayed until 9:45 p.m. Due to a severe storm.
* Lolo Jones competed in the 100-meter hurdles despite feeling the effects of a virus that hit her early Saturday morning and rendered her questionable. Jones contacted the LSU training staff early Saturday morning and was given an I.V. The staff monitored her progress throughout the course of the day before allowing her to compete Saturday night. Jones did not compete in the 100-meter dash, however.
* The second place finish by Susanne Strunz was the highest finish by a Lady Tiger since Charlotte Mayock finished second in the 3,000-meter run at the 1997 SEC Championships at Auburn.
* Muna Lee will attempt to become the first freshman to win the SEC 100 meter title since Peta-Gaye Dowdie of LSU in 1997.