AUSTIN, Texas — LSU All-American Walter Davis finished second in the men’s long jump, while LSU’s relays and sprinters looked strong on the second day of action at the 74th Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Davis came up with a wind-aided mark of 26 feet 9 inches to finish second to rival Savante Stringfellow of Ole Miss, who won the event with a mark of 27-6 .
“Walter looked good in his first long jump competition since the NCAA meet last month,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “Overall we had a nice day, our short relays were pretty good and did what they had to do and we got some sprinters through on the women’s side. Overall, a good day.”
The Tigers opened the day by posting the second fastest qualifying time in the men’s 4×100-meter relay. The foursome of Devery Henderson, Robert Parham, Gerald Green and Dwhyte Barrett posted a time of 40.34 seconds, the second fastest qualifying time on the day.
The Tigers finished second in their heat to NCAA leader TCU, but still managed to beat the winning times in each of the other heats to advance.
The two teams figure to battle for the title on Saturday afternoon. TCU edged the Tigers for the title at the 2000 Texas Relays.
The Lady Tigers are the top ranked team in the women’s 4×100-meter relay field and proved why on Friday morning, posting the fastest qualifying time by nearly half a second. The group of Sa’Donna Thornton, Stephanie Durst, Myra Combs and Muna Lee blew through their heat en route to a winning time of 44.41 to advance to Saturday’s final.
The Lady Tigers weren’t able to advance in the 4×400-meter relay, however. LSU and Miami had separated themselves from the pack in what looked to be a two-team race when LSU’s third leg, Stephanie Butler, collided with the Hurricanes’ third leg and both fell to the track. Miami dropped out of the race while the Lady Tigers continued but were later disqualified.
In individual competition on the track, the Lady Tigers advanced well, as both Lolo Jones and Sa’Donna Thornton advanced in their signature events.
Jones won her heat of the 100-meter hurdles in a season-best time of 13.41 to advance to Saturday’s final. Thornton dusted her heat of the women’s 100-meter dash to the tune of a season-best 11.42 to win her heat and advance to Saturday’s final.
April Sams ran a season-best time of 13.50 in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, but finished 10th overall and missed making the nine-woman final by one spot. Zamyal Jackson finished 12th overall in the preliminary rounds, running a time of 13.62.
The 74th Texas Relays continue tomorrow afternoon with a majority of the relay and individual track finals, as well as selected field events. The featured event tomorrow will be what has become the talk of Austin, when LSU and Baylor renew their rivalry in the men’s 4×400-meter dash. The two teams finished 1-2 in a classic at the NCAA Indoor Championships, won by LSU, then the Tigers once again edged the Bears last weekend in Houston in a race that generated the two fastest times in the world in 2001.