JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The LSU men’s track and field team closed out their first day of action at the NCAA East First Round on Wednesday, hosted by North Florida at Hodges Stadium.
The running was set to start at 6:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, but storms changed the course for the meet as the East had to sit through a four-hour delay.
Jahiem Stern and Matthew Sophia advanced in the men’s 110-meter hurdles to get the running started for LSU. Stern took third in heat four with a time of 13.90 seconds (-0.9 m/s) to advanced to the quarterfinals on Friday. Sophia won heat six with ease, clocking a time of 13.60 seconds (-0.7 m/s). The two hurdlers will compete in the quarterfinals at 5:15 p.m. CT on Friday.
The second event with advancers for the LSU men was the 100 meter. Freshman Jelani Watkins had a strong lead in the first attempt at heat one before it was called back. Watkins then took the second attempt at the race from start to finish, clocking a time of 10.27 seconds (-0.3 m/s) to qualify for quarters. A few minutes later, sophomore Jaiden Reid won heat five with a time of 10.19 seconds (-0.4 m/s) to advance. Watkins and Reid will take on the 100m quarterfinal at 5:35 p.m. CT.
Reid and Watkins returned later in the nation to advance to the quarterfinals in the 200 meter. Reid won his heat with a time of 20.81 seconds (-0.9 m/s), while Watkins clocked 20.88 seconds (-0.7 m/s) to finish top three for an auto-qualifying spot.
An unfortunate circumstance in the men’s 1500 meter led to Emedy Kiplimo getting tripped up and finishing with a time of 4:01.12. A protest will allow for him to compete in Friday’s quarterfinal.
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