LSU Gold

Four Track Signees Win Athlete of the Year Awards

+0
Four Track Signees Win Athlete of the Year Awards

BATON ROUGE – Four members of LSU Track & Field’s 2016 recruiting class have been honored as the top athletes in their home states this week as Rayvon Gray, Cassondra Hall, Brittley Humphrey and Tonea Marshall were named Gatorade Track & Field Athletes of the Year for their performance throughout the 2016 season.

Grey was chosen as the Gatorade Boys Track & Field Athlete of the Year in the state of New York in the wake of his record-breaking senior season, while Hall (Georgia), Humphrey (Alabama) and Marshall (Texas) were each recognized as the Gatorade Girls Track & Field Athlete of the Year in their home states in the awards announced this week by USA Today.

Grey, who hails from Beacon High School, was crowned the boys’ long jump national champion at the 2016 New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, North Carolina, last weekend just over a week after he broke Bob Beamon’s 51-year-old high school record in the state of New York in defending his state championship in the event.

Beamon, the 1968 Olympic Gold Medalist in Mexico City and former world-record holder in the long jump, set the previous New York high school record of 25-3 ½ more than a half century ago in 1965. Grey became the new prep record holder in New York while defending his Division I state championship when he jumped an outdoor personal best of 25-4 ¾ (+0.0) on June 10 ahead of the New Balance Outdoor Nationals.

That’s where Grey added an outdoor gold medal to his win at the New Balance Indoor Nationals earlier this year with a winning jump of 24-3 ½ (-0.8) on Sunday afternoon. Grey eclipsed the 26-foot mark indoors at the New Balance Indoor Nationals with a lifetime best of 26-0 ¼ to rank No. 3 in U.S. history in the high school long jump.

A senior at Warner Robins High School, Hall took home the 100-meter title at the Brooks PR Invitational last week with a wind-legal PR of 11.39 to become the No. 4-ranked sprinter nationwide in the 2016 season.

Hall’s prep career is highlighted by seven Class 5A state titles as one of Georgia’s most decorated athletes in the Class of 2016, including a third-straight state-championship sweep of 100-meter and 200-meter titles as a senior this spring. She also ran a career-best wind-aided time of 11.37 (+2.8) in the 100 meters at the state sectionals to book her return trip to the Georgia Class 5A state meet in the event.

Humphrey, who hails from Hoover High School, has proven herself as one of the elite dual hurdlers in the high school ranks throughout the 2016 season after having personal bests of 13.24 (+0.9) in the 100 hurdles and 41.62 in the 300-meter hurdles in a sweep of high school event titles at the Mt. Sac Relays back in April. Those times rank No. 7 and No. 9, respectively, on the U.S. high school list this outdoor season.

Before taking the Brooks PR Invitational title in the 100 hurdles last weekend, Humphrey swept Alabama state championships in the hurdles for the fourth-straight year with her meet-record times of 13.49 and 42.46 in Class 7A. She will join the Lady Tigers as a 12-time Alabama state champion during her prep career.

Perhaps no LSU recruit has rewritten the record books quite like Marshall this season as the nation’s top sprint hurdle recruit for the Class of 2016. Shortly after smashing the national high school record in the 60-meter hurdles with a winning 8.02 in the final at the New Balance Indoor Nationals, Marshall hurdled a wind-legal PR of 13.04 (+1.2) to set the Texas Relays high school record in defending her title in the 100-meter hurdles on April 2. That time ranks the Arlington Seguin High School product as the No. 2-ranked hurdler on the U.S. high school list in 2016.

Marshall was also crowned the Texas Class 5A state champion for the second-straight season with a meet-record time of 13.30 (+0.5) in the state final before placing fifth at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals.