PHILADELPHIA — The LSU track and field team concluded a successful weekend at the 108th Penn Relays by winning four titles on the final day of competition.
Walter Davis made history, becoming the first man in Penn Relays history to sweep the horizontal jumps in consecutive years, while Muna Lee defended her 100-meter title and anchored the Lady Tigers to victory in the 4×200-meter relay. The men’s team closed out the competition with its first Penn Relays title in the mile relay.
“I think we had another really good day,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “We won four events today, seven over the weekend and were very competitive across the board. Walter Davis continues to be nothing short of amazing. Muna Lee had another fantastic day. We really had some great performances today and over the course of the entire weekend.”
A day after taking his second consecutive long jump title, Davis completed his historic back-to-back sweep of the horizontals by taking the triple jump. The Olympian came up with a mark of 54 feet 11 1/2 inches, easily outdistancing the rest of the field.
Davis became the first man to successfully defend the Penn Relays triple jump title since former Arkansas great Robert Howard won back-to-back titles in 1996 and 1997.
On the women’s side, Lee became the first woman to win back-to-back Penn Relays 100-meter titles since former Lady Tiger great Cheryl Taplin did so in 1993 and 1994. Lee blasted out of the blocks and won in a time of 11.38 going virtually unchallenged. Stephanie Durst finished sixth in a time of 11.74.
Earlier in the day Lee and Durst teamed with Lolo Jones and Ronetta Smith to give LSU its second straight 4×200-meter relay title and its sixth in eight years. Jones led off and handed to Smith at the first exchange with LSU, TCU and South Carolina even.
As Smith handed to Durst, the sophomore All-American separated herself from the pack and gave the stick to Lee on the anchor leg with a sizable lead, one she would not relinquish as she brought the title home in a time of 1:31.58. The time is the fastest in the world in 2002.
Less than an hour after winning the 4×200-meter relay title, Jones returned to the track and finished second in the 100-meter hurdles. The sophomore All-American ran a time of 13.20 and finished second to Danielle Carruthers of Indiana who won with a very fast time of 12.94.
On the men’s side, the Tigers came up with a strong showing in the 4×100-meter relay in one of the best races of the day, but finished fourth as the top four teams all finished with .13 of one another.
Davis ran a fast opening leg, but struggled with Robert Parham on the first exchange. Parham ran a strong second leg and handed to Pete Coley who gave the Tigers a lead as he handed to anchor Bennie Brazell.
Brazell, who is more of a quarter-miler, was reeled in over the final 30 meters by pure sprinters Leonard Scott of Tennesse, Piere Brown of Mississippi State and Demario Wesley of TCU. Tennessee won the race in a time of 39.08, followed by Mississippi State, TCU and LSU. The Tigers clocked a respectable time of 39.21.
The Tigers closed out their weekend by claiming their first Penn Relays title in the 4×400-meter relay. Coley produced a 45.4 anchor split and held off Tennessee’s Gary Kikaya, as the Tigers posted victory in a time of 3:05.14.
LSU will take next weekend off before returning to action from May 9-12 at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Starkville, Miss. The Lady Tigers finished fourth a year ago while the Tigers placed sixth.