BATON ROUGE – Four Tigers and four Lady Tigers who recently completed the 2014 collegiate season at the NCAA Championships two weeks ago are among 16 LSU Track & Field athletes past and present competing this week at the five-day USA Outdoor Championships beginning Wednesday at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium in Sacramento, California.
The USA Championships returns to the site of the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials in 2000 and 2004, while Hornet Stadium also last played host to the NCAA Championships during the 2007 season.
Among the LSU athletes ready to compete against the very best track and field athletes in the United States this weekend are eight athletes who led the Tigers and Lady Tigers to a pair of top finishes at the 2014 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships two weeks ago. The Tigers tied for fourth place and the Lady Tigers finished in sixth place at the NCAA Championships this season.
LSU’s athletes includes seniors Denise Hinton in the women’s hammer throw, Lynnika Pitts in the women’s triple jump and Jasmin Stowers in the women’s 100-meter hurdles; and juniors Tori Bliss in the women’s shot put, Rodney Brown in the men’s discus throw, Quincy Downing in the men’s 400-meter hurdles, Aaron Ernest in the men’s 200-meter dash and Vernon Norwood in the men’s 400-meter dash.
Bliss and Stowers each scored NCAA Outdoor silver medals as national runners-up in their events at the NCAA Championships when Bliss broke her school record with a seasonal-best throw of 57 feet, 4 ¼ inches in the shot put and Stowers raced to a career-best wind-aided time of 12.54 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.
Downing and Norwood were each NCAA Outdoor bronze medalists to wrap up the 2014 collegiate season as Downing clocked a personal best of 49.97 in the final of the 400-meter hurdles and Norwood ran 45.52 in the final of the 400-meter dash. Norwood owns a lifetime personal best of 45.17 in the 400 meters that he set at both the SEC Championships and NCAA East Preliminary Rounds this season.
Ernest sprinted to a wind-aided 20.31 for fourth place in the NCAA final of the men’s 200 meters, while Pitts jumped a lifetime personal best of 44-1 ¼ on her last collegiate jump for fourth place in the triple jump.
Like Pitts, Hinton also saved her best throw at the NCAA Championships for her last attempt when she threw 210-9 to earn All-American honors with a fifth-place finish in the women’s hammer throw final. Hinton set a school record in the women’s hammer throw twice during the 2014 season with throws of 209-6 at the Battle on the Bayou on April 5 and a seasonal best of 218-0 at the LSU Invitational on May 3.
Former Lady Tigers ready to compete at the USA Championships this week include the quartet of former NCAA Champions in Kimberlyn Duncan (200 meters), Lolo Jones (100 hurdles), Cassandra Tate (400 hurdles) and LaTavia Thomas (800 meters), as well as Tenaya Jones (100 hurdles), Charlene Lipsey (800 meters) and Kenyanna Wilson (100 meters).
Former 800-meter All-American Richard Jones is the only Tiger alumnus scheduled to compete during the championship as he will line up in a strong field in the men’s 800 meters.
The 2014 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships will feature live television coverage on the last two days of the competition as Saturday’s action will feature on NBC from 3-5 p.m. CT and on Universal Sports from 5-6 p.m. and Sunday’s finale will broadcast on Universal Sports from 2-3 p.m. and on NBC from 3-5 p.m. Universal Sports will also air Friday’s events on a tape-delay basis from 9-11 p.m.
A complete list of the current and former LSU Track & Field athletes competing at the USA Championships this weekend along with a daily event schedule is listed below. Event times listed are subject to change.
Time Schedule for LSU Entries at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships
Note: Times are Central and subject to change based on round-by-round qualifying and weather delay
Wednesday, June 25
Noon – Women’s Shot Put Qualifying (Tori Bliss)
6:30 p.m. – Women’s Shot Put Final (Tori Bliss)
Thursday, June 26
6:15 p.m. – Women’s 800 Meters First Round (Charlene Lipsey, LaTavia Thomas)
6:40 p.m. – Men’s 800 Meters First Round (Richard Jones)
7:35 p.m. – Women’s Triple Jump Qualifying/Final (Lynnika Pitts)
8:05 p.m. – Men’s 400 Meters First Round (Vernon Norwood)
9:00 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters First Round (Kenyanna Wilson)
Friday, June 27
TV Schedule: TAPE DELAY on NBC Sports Network (9-11 p.m. CT)
5:15 p.m. – Men’s Discus Qualifying/Final (Rodney Brown)
6:00 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles First Round (Cassandra Tate)
6:30 p.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles First Round (Quincy Downing)
7:25 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles First Round (Lolo Jones, Tenaya Jones, Jasmin Stowers)
7:51 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Semifinals (Kenyanna Wilson)
9:54 p.m. – Men’s 400 Meters Semifinals (Vernon Norwood)
10:09 p.m. – Women’s 800 Meters Semifinals (Charlene Lipsey, LaTavia Thomas)
10:26 p.m. – Men’s 800 Meters Semifinals (Richard Jones)
10:43 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Final (Kenyanna Wilson)
Saturday, June 28
TV Schedule: LIVE on NBC (3-5 p.m. CT); LIVE on Universal Sports (5-6 p.m. CT)
1 p.m. – Women’s Hammer Throw Qualifying/Final (Denise Hinton)
1 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles Semifinals (Lolo Jones, Tenaya Jones, Jasmin Stowers)
1:20 p.m. – Men’s 200 Meters First Round (Aaron Ernest)
2:20 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters First Round (Kimberlyn Duncan)
3:13 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Semifinals (Cassandra Tate)
3:29 p.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles Semifinals (Quincy Downing)
4:42 p.m. – Men’s 400 Meters Final (Vernon Norwood)
4:52 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles Final (Lolo Jones, Tenaya Jones, Jasmin Stowers)
Sunday, June 29
TV Schedule: LIVE on Universal Sports (2-3 p.m. CT); LIVE on NBC (3-5 p.m. CT)
1:30 p.m. – Men’s 200 Meters Semifinals (Aaron Ernest)
1:50 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Semifinals (Kimberlyn Duncan)
3:05 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Final (Cassandra Tate)
3:30 p.m. – Women’s 800 Meters Final (Charlene Lipsey, LaTavia Thomas)
3:40 p.m. – Men’s 800 Meters Final (Richard Jones)
4:09 p.m. – Men’s 200 Meters Final (Aaron Ernest)
4:19 p.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles Final (Quincy Downing)
4:29 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Final (Kimberlyn Duncan)