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Track & Field Athletes Set for USATF Championships

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Track & Field Athletes Set for USATF Championships

BATON ROUGE – The Road to London for the 2017 IAAF World Championships in Athletics rolls through Sacramento, California, this weekend as a total of 16 LSU athletes past and present will line up against the best athletes in the United States at the USA Track & Field Championships beginning Thursday at Hornet Stadium.

The four-day meet runs through Sunday as the top-three finishers in each event with the “A” qualifying standard will earn a spot on Team USA competing at the World Championships in London in August.

Among those competing at Sacramento State’s Hornet Stadium this weekend include seven Tigers and Lady Tigers earning All-America honors at the NCAA Championships during the 2017 collegiate season. NCAA 100-meter champion Mikiah Brisco joins teammates Aleia Hobbs (100 meters), Jada Martin (200 meters) and Rebekah Wales (javelin) in the women’s competition, while All-Americans Michael Cherry (400 meters), Johnnie Jackson (hammer) and Blair Henderson (800 meters) are declared on the men’s side.

Brisco became LSU’s seventh NCAA Champion in the women’s 100-meter dash in the finale at the 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships on June 10 when she clocked a personal-best time of 10.96 seconds in the national final. Hobbs, who set her personal best of 10.85 at the SEC Relays in April, followed Brisco in fifth place in the NCAA final in the women’s 100 meters.

Martin added a career-best fifth-place NCAA finish in the 200-meter dash in her final meet as a Lady Tiger, while Wales also placed fifth in the javelin final to earn her third career All-America honor.

Cherry defended his title as the NCAA Outdoor Bronze Medalist in the men’s 400-meter dash in his final collegiate meet while running a personal best of 44.73 in the semifinal and 44.77 for third place in the final. Jackson put the Tigers on the scoreboard at the NCAA Outdoor Championships with a sixth-place national finish in the men’s hammer throw while posting his personal best of 235 feet, 4 inches in his final meet as a LSU Tiger. Henderson was an All-American indoors as the seventh-place finisher nationally at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

A host of former LSU athletes are also among the favorites to earn a spot on Team USA for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, including 2015 medalists Vernon Norwood in the men’s 400 meters and Cassandra Tate in the women’s 400-meter hurdles. Norwood struck gold for the United States in the 4×400-meter relay, while Tate won the World Championships bronze medal in the 400 hurdles in Beijing two years ago.

Other former athletes competing in Sacramento this weekend include Rodney Brown (discus), Quincy Downing (400 hurdles), Kimberlyn Duncan (100 meters, 200 meters), Ryan Fontenot (110 hurdles), Charlene Lipsey (800 meters) and Jasmin Stowers (100 hurdles).

LSU’s Entries at the 2017 USA Track & Field Championships
Note: Times are Central and subject to change due to weather and athlete advancement.

Thursday, June 22
3:45 p.m. – Men’s Hammer Throw Final (Johnnie Jackson)
7 p.m. – Women’s Javelin Final (Rebekah Wales)
7 p.m. – Men’s 800 Meters First Round (Blair Henderson)
7:25 p.m. – Women’s 800 Meters First Round (Charlene Lipsey)
8:10 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters First Round (Mikiah Brisco, Kimberlyn Duncan, Aleia Hobbs)
9:45 p.m. – Men’s 400 Meters First Round (Michael Cherry, Vernon Norwood)

Friday, June 23
TV Coverage: NBC Sports Network (9:30-11:30 p.m. CT)
6:50 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles First Round (Jasmin Stowers)
7:16 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Semifinals (Mikiah Brisco, Kimberlyn Duncan, Aleia Hobbs)
8:15 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles First Round (Cassandra Tate)
8:40 p.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles First Round (Quincy Downing)
9:34 p.m. – Men’s 400 Meters Semifinals (Michael Cherry, Vernon Norwood)
9:52 p.m. – Women’s 100 Meters Final (Mikiah Brisco, Kimberlyn Duncan, Aleia Hobbs)
10:11 p.m. – Men’s 800 Meters Semifinal (Blair Henderson)
10:28 p.m. – Women’s 800 Meters Semifinal (Charlene Lipsey)

Saturday, June 24
TV Coverage: NBC (3-5 p.m. CT)
1:20 p.m. – Men’s 110 Hurdles First Round (Ryan Fontenot)
1:48 p.m. – Men’s 200 Meters First Round (Tremayne Acy)
2:15 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters First Round (Kimberlyn Duncan, Jada Martin)
2:40 p.m. – Men’s Discus Throw Final (Rodney Brown)
3:05 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles Semifinals (Jasmin Stowers)
3:31 p.m. – Men’s 400 Meters Final (Michael Cherry, Vernon Norwood)
3:39 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Semifinals (Cassandra Tate)
3:55 p.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles Semifinals (Quincy Downing)
4:54 p.m. – Women’s 100 Hurdles Final (Jasmin Stowers)

Sunday, June 25
TV Coverage: NBC (3-5 p.m. CT)
2 p.m. – Men’s 200 Meters Semifinals (Tremayne Acy)
2:20 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Semifinals (Kimberlyn Duncan, Jada Martin)
3:04 p.m. – Men’s 110 Hurdles Semifinals (Ryan Fontenot)
3:20 p.m. – Women’s 200 Meters Final (Kimberlyn Duncan, Jada Martin)
3:46 p.m. – Women’s 400 Hurdles Final (Cassandra Tate)
3:56 p.m. – Men’s 400 Hurdles Final (Quincy Downing)
4:06 p.m. – Men’s 800 Meters Final (Blair Henderson)
4:33 p.m. – Men’s 200 Meters Final (Tremayne Acy)
4:53 p.m. – Men’s 110 Hurdles Final (Ryan Fontenot)