EUGENE, Ore. — LSU All-American and 2000 Olympian Walter Davis will represent the United States for the second year in a row by virtue of a third place finish in the triple jump on Sunday at the GMC Envoy USA Track and Field Championships at Hayward Field.
Competing on a cold and rainy day in Eugene, Ore., the 2001 NCAA triple jump champion came up with a best mark of 55 feet 6 ? inches to earn a spot on the U.S. squad for the World Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada from Aug. 3-12.
Davis finished third at the U.S. Olympic Trials a year ago to make his first national team before finishing 11th at the Sydney Olympics.
Former Northwestern State standout LaMark Carter won the event with a jump of 56-4. LeVar Anderson, the 1999 NCAA champion while at LSU, finished seventh with a best jump of 53-5 ?.
In other action, former Tiger great Russ Buller narrowly missed making his first U.S. squad, placing fourth in the men?s pole vault. Buller negotiated 18-6 ?, the identical mark of third place finisher Nick Hysong, but lost out on the third spot in a count back to previous heights cleared.
For Buller, it was has third fourth place finish at a USA Championship and his best finish at the USA Outdoor Championships.
A pair of former Lady Tigers were also in action on Sunday. The 1996 NCAA 100-meter hurdles champion, Kim Carson, just missed making her first U.S. team, placing fifth in her signature event with a time of 13.36, while Myra Combs, a member of the 2001 LSU squad, finished eighth in the 200-meter dash in a time of 24.04.