JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The LSU women’s track and field team closed out their first day of action at the NCAA East First Round on Thursday, hosted by North Florida at Hodges Stadium. The first day of women’s competition saw the Tigers punch their first two tickets to Hayward Field.
For the second day in a row the NCAA East had to go through weather delays. Prior to the delays, Tima Godbless lit up the track shocking the world and herself. The sophomore clocked a huge personal-best time of 10.91 seconds (+1.2 m/s), the fastest time of the 100m first round. The time of 10.91 ranks first in the world for 2025, first in the NCAA, No. 4 in LSU history, No. 4 in Nigerian history and No. 6 in African history. Entering the meet her PR stood at 11.03 from last season’s regional meet, while her season best was 11.06 from the SEC Championships.
After Godbless’ first round performance in the 100m, she joins eight other LSU women that have gone sub-11 seconds. She becomes the ninth-fastest performer in NCAA Championships history, and sits behind only Aleia Hobbs as the second-fastest performer in First Round history.
The first ticket of the weekend was punched by sophomore Trinity Spooner on Thursday. Spooner reached a mark of 51.03 meters (167-5) on her final throw to clutch the No. 11 spot in qualifying. This marks the second season in a row that Spooner is heading to the big stage in Eugene, Oregon.
Another Nigerian to make her way into the quarterfinals on Saturday was Ella Onojuvwevwo. The junior clocked a heat-winning time of 51.25 seconds to clinch a spot. The time was the third fastest on the day of the 48 athletes competing in the event.
With no surprise, Michaela Rose advanced onto the next round of the women’s 800-meter competition. Rose clocked an easy time of 2:01.75 to win heat one of the first round. The time was the second fastest of the afternoon in Jacksonville.
Later in the day Godbless returned in the 200 meter to auto-qualify for the quarterfinals with a time of 22.80 seconds (-0.8 m/s). Along with her was sophomore Aniyah Bigam, who qualified for the NCAA East quarterfinals in the 200m for the second year in a row. Bigam clocked a time of 23.13 seconds (-1.1 m/s) to earn her spot in the next round.
To close the night, Edna Chepkemoi punched a ticket to Hayward Field in the 10,000 meter. Chepkemoi clocked a new personal-best time of 33:11.87 to finish 11th overall, improving her No. 2 spot in LSU history. Her previous PR and SB entering the meet sat at 33:54.99 from the Bryan Clay Invitational.
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