Baton Rouge, La. – It will be a split squad weekend for the LSU track and field squad as the team hosts the 2019 Bayou Bengal at the Carl Maddox Field House, and a number of sprinters and hurdlers will head out west to Albuquerque, N.M., for the New Mexico Collegiate Classic.
Bayou Bengal (Jan. 31, Feb. 1) | Meet Schedule | Live Results | Free Admission | Heat Sheets
The two-day meet at the Carl Maddox Field House will begin with the pentathlon and heptathlon on Thursday afternoon. RC Walbrook, a freshman from Glenn Dale, Md., will be the only LSU athlete competing in the multi-events. He’ll get action started in the heptathlon at 3:30 p.m. CT on Thursday with 60 meter dash. The heptathlon consists of the 60 meter dash, long jump, shot put, and high jump on day one, and those events are followed by the 60 meter hurdles, pole vault and 1,000 meter run on Friday.
The highlight of day two of the meet for LSU will be the men’s pole vault. Mondo Duplantis enters the meet with an NCAA leading clearance of 5.83 meters (19’ 1.50”) in 2019. He registered the mark at the Razorback Invitational last weekend in his LSU track and field debut. The clearance of 5.83 meters broke Russ Buller’s 20-year old school record and it ranks as the second-best clearance in the world for 2019. After clearing 5.83 meters, Duplantis took three attempts at what would have been an NCAA record clearance at 5.92 meters (19’ 5”), but he missed on all three of them. Duplantis will be attempting to set an NCAA record in the pole vault on Friday night. He is slated to begin competition around 6:15 p.m. at the Carl Maddox Field House. The NCAA record was set four years ago in 2015 by Shawn Barber of Akron; he cleared a bar at 19 feet, four and three quarter inches (5.91 meters).
Abby O’Donoghue and Kaitlyn Walker will lace up the spikes for the women’s high jump at 6 p.m. on Friday night. O’Donoghue, a Denham Springs native, owns the ninth-best jump in the NCAA this season, a clearance of 1.80 meters (5-10.75) that she registered at the Red Raider Invitational.
New Mexico Collegiate Classic | Meet Schedule | Live Results | Heat Sheets
Twenty-two sprinters and hurdlers will make the trip to Albuquerque for the two-day meet that begins Friday and concludes Saturday. LSU has 16 sprinters entered in the 200 meter dash on Friday night. The men’s heats will begin at 8:15 p.m. CT and the women’s portion of the 200 meter dash will start at 9 p.m. CT. LSU will have competitors in the 60 meter hurdles, 60 meter dash and 400 meter dash on Saturday.
Top 10 Marks in LSU History | 2019 Performance List
In addition to the school records set by Gunnarsson and Duplantis, seven other athletes have entered or made improvements to the all-time top 10 list at LSU in 2019. JuVaughn Harrison, Rayvon Grey and Damion Thomas all registered their elite marks at the Red Raider Invitational (Jan. 18) in Lubbock, Texas. Amy Stelly, Sha’Carri Richardson and Ersula Farrow all collected their top-10 marks last weekend at the Razorback Invitational. Freshman Julia Palin set her career-best time in the 3,000 meter run in her first-career collegiate track and field race in Birmingham, Ala., on Jan. 12.
Mondo Duplantis – No. 1 – Pole Vault – 5.83m (19’ 1.50”)
JuVaughn Harrison – No. 2 – High Jump – 2.27m (7’ 5.25”)
Damion Thomas – No. 3 – 60m Hurdles – 7.68*
Rayvon Grey – No. 6 – Long Jump – 8.06m (26’ 5.50”)
Lisa Gunnarsson – No. 1 – Pole Vault – 4.51m (14’ 9.50”)
Amy Stelly – No. 5 – Pole Vault – 3.81m (12’ 6”)
Julia Palin – No. 7 – 3,000 Meter Run – 9:54.04
Sha’Carri Richardson – No. 9 – 60m Dash – 7.20
Ersula Farrow – No. 10 – 800 Meter Run – 2:05.45
*Altitude converted
NCAA Qualifiers
LSU currently has 11 individual athletes that own top-16 times in the NCAA season. The No. 16 is so important because each athlete that ranks in the top 16 of his/her event earns a bid to the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships. JuVaughn Harrison owns nationally qualifying marks in the long jump (NCAA No. 8) and high jump (NCAA No. 1), and on the women’s side, Kortnei Johnson currently has two top-16 times in the 60 meter dash (7.21/No. 5) and 200 meter dash (23.37/No. 9). The men’s 4×400 meter relay of Correion Mosby, Jaron Flournoy, Christian Boyd and Tyler Terry clocked the sixth-fastest time in the nation, a 3:06.34, at the Razorback Invitational.
Other National Marks
Lisa Gunnarsson – NCAA No. 1 – Pole Vault – 4.51m (14’ 9.50”)
Mondo Duplantis – NCAA No. 1 – Pole Vault – 5.83m (19’ 1.50”)
Rayvon Grey – NCAA No. 1 – Long Jump – 8.06m (26’ 5.50”)
Sha’Carri Richardson – NCAA No. 3 – 60m Dash – 7.20
Damion Thomas – NCAA No. 5 – 60m Hurdles – 7.68
Ersula Farrow – NCAA No. 6 – 800m Run – 2:05.45
Tonea Marshall – NCAA No. 9 – 60m Hurdles – 8.14
Abby O’Donoghue – NCAA No. 9 – High Jump – 1.80m (5’ 10.75”)
Akanni Hislop – NCAA No. 11 – 60m Dash – 20.96
Rankings | USTFCCCA Women’s Rankings | USTFCCCA Men’s Rankings | FloTrack Rankings
The men’s team earned its highest positioning of the season with a No. 4 ranking in Tuesday’s latest USTFCCCA rankings update. The move to four was a four-spot improvement from last week. The women check in at No. 11 in the USTFCCCA rankings.
On the FloTrack side of things, the men’s team is currently ranked fifth, and the women are holding down the seventh spot.
How to Follow
Fans can follow @LSUTrackField on Twitter for the most up to date happenings at meets. Fans can also follow LSU track and field on Instagram (LSUTrackField) and Facebook (LSU Track & Field).