EUGENE, Ore. – LSU track and field team closed out their first day of action of the NCAA Championships on Wednesday, hosted by Oregon at the historic Hayward Field.
The first scoring and podium visit of the week came from Jack Larriviere in the javelin throw. The Louisianan nearly missed the final before he threw a bomb of 76.00 meters (249-4) on his third attempt. He then found the clutch gene once more on his sixth and final throw of the night, getting out to a distance of 77.91 meters (255-7) to leap up to third place. It was a great close to a comeback season many will remember.
The biggest semifinal moment of day one of the four-day-championship meet came early on as Jaiden Reid finally broke 10 seconds for the first time in the 100 meter. Reid got out blindingly quick and recorded a time of 9.95 seconds (-1.1 m/s). The time of 9.95 puts him at third all time on the LSU performance list behind Richard Thompson (9.89) and Godson Oghenebrume (9.90) and ties the 14-year-old Caymanian national record. He also becomes the fifth Tiger to ever go sub-10 seconds in the event.
To close his night of competition, Reid came back and gave the fans exactly what they wanted to see. The junior got out fast, looked side to side, and eased up with 15 meters left to go, clocking the fastest time of the heats of 20.05 seconds. Last time out he clocked a personal-best time of 20.01 seconds, showing he is in sub-20 form and primed to reach that in the final on Friday.
The day started with Reid and the men’s 4×100 squad that includes Jeremiah Walker, Shakeem McKay, and Joshua Caleb. The squad recorded a relatively clean race as they clocked in at 38.40 seconds to get the big “Q” and finish second in heat one.
In a race that included a world record, Matthew Sophia was able to hold his own and earn a time-qualifying spot in Friday’s final. A few clips of the hurdle almost kept Sophia from advancing but he was still able to clock a solid time of 13.40 seconds.
LSU brought three men to Eugene in the 400 meter and were able to send one to the final. Sophomore Amal Glasgow brought in a time of 45.31 seconds to finish third in his heat and earn one of the three time-qualifying spots. Grant Buckmiller and Malachi Austin came in as the two fastest for LSU but nearly missed out on the time spots.
Closing the night the men’s 4×400 did what they do best: win. The group of Amal Glasgow, Shakeem McKay, Grant Buckmiller, and Malachi Austin clocked 3:00.54 and have high hopes to claim the natty on Friday.
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