Four More Tigers Punch Tickets to NCAA Championships
Jacksonville, Fla. – Four LSU women – Lisa Gunnarsson, Emma Robbins, Mercy Abire Matanmi, Aliyah Whisby – from the track and field program clinched their spots at the 2021 NCAA Championships on day two of the NCAA East Preliminaries Thursday at Hodges Stadium.
Jacksonville, Fla. – Four LSU women – Lisa Gunnarsson, Emma Robbins, Mercy Abire Matanmi, Aliyah Whisby – from the track and field program clinched their spots at the 2021 NCAA Championships on day two of the NCAA East Preliminaries Thursday at Hodges Stadium.
In the long jump, Whisby and Abire Matanmi glided into the sand with quality marks for their spots at the NCAA final site that will be in Eugene, Oregon, June 9-12. Whisby registered a jump of 21′ 9″ (6.63 meters) on her first attempt of the day, and Abire Matanmi leaped a personal best of 21′ 1.25′ (6.43 meters) on her second attempt. Whisby finished third and Abire Matanmi was eighth to easily get in the top 12. Abire Matanmi’s mark of 21′ 1.25″ ties her for 10th on the LSU all-time list.
SEC champion Emma Roberts threw the hammer 216′ 9″ (66.06 meters) to finish third in the field of 48 competitors and advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time in her career. Gunnarsson, the 2021 NCAA indoor champion in the pole vault, only had to clear two bars to solidify her spot in Eugene. She cleared a final bar of 14 feet (4.27 meters) to move on and had no misses on the day.
Just like the men yesterday, the rest of the action on Friday evening consisted of advancement from the first round of the NCAA championship meet. The women’s hurdling crew advanced in all eight of its opportunities on Thursday. The duo of Brittley Humphrey and Milan Young both moved on to the quarterfinals from the 100 meter hurdles and 400 meter hurdles. Humphrey and Young ran matching times of 13.04 in the 100 meter hurdles, and then Humphrey went 57.61 in the longer hurdles race to which Young followed with a 57.61.
Tonea Marshall ran a windy 12.49 to win her 100 meter hurdle heat and Alia Armstrong also advanced on to the quarterfinals of the 100 meter hurdles with a time of 13.13. Marshall’s time of 12.49 was the third fastest wind-aided time in collegiate history. The 100 meter hurdles will be contested again on Saturday night at 5:45 p.m. CT, and the 400 meter hurdles will be run at 6:55 p.m. CT Saturday. The final hurdlers of the day to advance to the quarterfinals were Jurnee Woodward and Leah Phillips in the 400 hurdles; Woodward ran a 58 flat and Phillips had a 58.86.
Here’s what the third fastest wind-aided time in NCAA history looks like!
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?? 12.49w
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?? H/T to @USTFCCCA?? https://t.co/gqEPIrikR6
?? https://t.co/rM9Cz3vAj2#GeauxTigers pic.twitter.com/2oukWOhmdt— LSU Track & Field (@LSUTrackField) May 27, 2021
Symone Mason moved on to the quarterfinals of the 100 meters with a time of 11.23; she’ll compete for a spot in Eugene at 6:05 p.m. CT on Saturday evening. Amber Anning cruised to a time of 52.64 and earn a spot in Saturday’s quarterfinals of the 400 meters at 6:20 p.m. CT.
Katy-Ann McDonald clocked a massive personal best of 2:02.54 in the 800 meters to win her heat. That moves her up to No. 7 on the LSU all-time list and it ranks as the 10th fastest time in the NCAA this season.
The final advancing trio of the day was Favour Ofili, Symone Mason, and Thelma Davies in the 200 meters. Ofili went 22
Other Results
Noel Baker – Javelin – 13th – 164′ (49.99 meters) – 8th best mark in LSU history
Serena Bolden – Long Jump – 19th – 20′ 1″ (6.12 meters)
Monique Hardy – Hammer – 26th – 193′ 9″ (59.07 meters)
Lorena Rangel – 800 Meters – 37th – 2:07.37
Up Next
The No. 1 ranked LSU men return to competition for day three of the NCAA East Preliminaries on Friday. A live stream for Friday’s action can be viewed at unfospreys.com.