EUGENE, Ore. – The LSU men’s track & field team opened up their week at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Friday, hosted by Oregon at the historic Hayward Field.
The day started for the Tigers with the men’s 4×100-meter relay squad consisting of Myles Thomas, Da’Marcus Fleming, Jaiden Reid and Godson Oghenebrume earning an auto-Q for the final on Friday. LSU’s nation-leading 4×100 clocked a time of 38.76 seconds, which ranked them 10th in the semifinals and was the slowest of qualifying teams. Seven of the nine teams that qualified for the final set season-best times during the event.
Sophomore Matthew Sophia ran his way to a new personal-best time of 13.37 seconds (+0.2 m/s) to earn a third-place finish in his heat, qualifying by time with the fifth-fastest time of the day. Sophia just missed out on the auto-qualifying spot in his heat by just .005 seconds to the Pac-12 Champion. His new PR improves his No. 4 spot on the all-time LSU performance list, shaving .03 off his previous of 13.40 seconds.
Next up to bat on the day for the Tigers was the reigning two-time SEC Champion across 100 meters, Oghenebrume. The Nigerian got out to a slow start in the Northwestern-cold air, but was able to make up ground and snatch the auto-qualifying second spot in his heat with a time of 10.23 seconds (-0.3 m/s). Last season Oghenebrume finished runner-up and will be looking to cap off his junior season with his first individual gold medal at the NCAA’s.
The two-time NCAA 400-meter hurdle Champion, Sean “Squirrel” Burrell, qualified one last time for the event’s final on Friday. Burrell got out fast as he was the first to clear the initial hurdle, and closed out the race with a second-place finish in the heat for the Q and a season-best time of 49.03 seconds. The time of 49.03 is the fastest Burrell has clocked in his career during the NCAA 400mh semifinals.
The final event of the day for the Tigers came as the men’s 4×400-meter relay team consisting of Burrell, Shakeem McKay, Salim Epps and Dillon Bedell earned a Q with a time of 3:02.95. Bedell missed out on qualifying for the men’s 400-meter final, but bolstered the team with an anchor split of 44.79 seconds to take them from third to second in their heat.
Two LSU record-holding seniors finished their seasons on Friday night under the Hayward field lights.
Two-time NCAA Champion in javelin throw, Tzuriel Pedigo, finished with a 12th-place finish in his specialty event. The senior reached a distance of 70.40 meters (231’ 0”) on his first attempt of the day to close out his career. Right behind him in 13th was Will Lawrence competing in his first DI NCAA Championship, finishing with a distance of 70.20 meters (230’ 4”) on his third and final throw.
The LSU shot-put-record holder, John Meyer, finished his career with a throw of 19.52 meters (64’ 0.5”) on his first attempt to finish ninth overall.
Men’s Day 2 Schedule (Friday, June 7)
7:30 p.m. CT – Men’s High Jump Final | Kuda Chadenga
8:02 p.m. CT – Men’s 4x100m Relay Final | Thomas, Fleming, Reid, Oghenebrume
8:42 p.m. CT – Men’s 110-Meter Relays Final | Matthew Sophia
8:52 p.m. CT – Men’s 100 Meter Final | Godson Oghenebrume
9:27 p.m. CT – Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles Final | Sean Burrell
10:21 p.m. CT – Men’s 4x400m Relay Final | Burrell, McKay, Epps, Bedell
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