AUSTIN, Texas — All-American sprinter Muna Lee wrapped up a stellar weekend, sweeping the short sprint titles, as the LSU track and field team wrapped up a big weekend at the Longhorn Invitational at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
“We put together a very nice two day effort this weekend and got a lot accomplished,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “This was an important weekend for us with this being our second to last meet before the SEC Championships. We needed to get a lot done and we did.”
Lee, a freshman from Kansas City, Mo., came up with a huge statement in the 100-meter dash, registering the fastest time in the nation this season to win the event, a slightly windy NCAA automatic time of 11.13 seconds. The time by Lee was the fastest time ever recorded by a Lady Tiger freshman, wind-aided or legal. Teammate Sa’Donna Thornton finished third in a time of 11.31, just .01 off the NCAA automatic standard.
Lee then went on to win the 200-meter title in an NCAA automatic time of 22.74 becoming only the second LSU freshman to ever run a sub-23 second time in the event.
The 200-meter dash was a huge event for the Lady Tigers, as it produced three automatic qualifiers. In addition to Lee, Myra Combs finished second in a time of 22.94, while freshman Stephanie Durst also ran an auto time of 23.05. For Combs, it was her first sub-23 second time since the 1998 season when she became the first Lady Tiger freshman to run under 23 second before Lee on Saturday.
The Lady Tigers got off to a quick start on the track, picking up the title in the 4×100-meter relay and it was once again Lee coming up with a clutch effort. Lee overcame a seven-meter deficit on the anchor leg to catch Texas anchor Moushaumi Robinson and lead the Lady Tigers to victory in a time of 44.26.
Texas grabbed the early lead in the race when the LSU’s Sa’Donna Thornton and Durst struggled on the first exchange. Combs ran a solid third leg on the curve to place Lee in position to anchor the Lady Tigers to victory.
The Tigers were not as fortunate in the short relay, however. For the second time in three weeks, they were unable to get the stick around, as Robert Parham and Gerald Green were unable to complete the second exchange.
LSU looked strong in the quarter once again on Saturday, sweeping the titles in the event. Parham ran a personal best 400-meter time of 46.37 to pull a mild upset over teammate and fellow All-American Lueroy Colquhoun who clocked a time of 46.49.
Ronetta Smith improved to 3-0 on the year in the quarter, winning the women’s 400-meter dash in a time of 52.74. Smith was conservative over the first 200 meters, then separated herself over the final deuce to pick up an easy victory.
After running the fastest qualifying times in the preliminary rounds on Friday night, freshman Lolo Jones came up with a second place finish on Saturday with a time of 13.24, just off her preliminary time. Teammate Zamyal Jackson finished sixth, but moved up considerably on the NCAA provisional list with a time of 13.43.
Gonzales native Greg Scott finished third in the men’s 110-meter hurdles in a time of 14.11, just off his season best mark in the event.
LSU returns to action on Thursday when both squads travel to Philadelphia for the 106th running of the Penn Relays at venerable Franklin Field.