Lynnika Pitts Season 2011
Events: High Jump (IN: 5-9 ¾; OUT: 5-10), Long Jump (IN: 19-8; OUT: 19-5 ½), Triple Jump (IN: 44-0 ¾; OUT: 44-6 ¼w/44-1 ¼)
3-time All-American
2-time All-SEC
2014 USA Outdoor Bronze Medalist (Triple Jump)
CAREER CAPSULE
Graduated from LSU in August 2014 with her degree in kinesiology … A standout triple jumper during her collegiate career from 2011-14 … Ended her career tied as the No. 4-ranked performer outdoors with an outdoor personal record of 44 feet, 1 ¼ inches and the No. 7-ranked performer indoors with an indoor PR of 44-0 ¾ on LSU’s all-time performance list in the women’s triple jump … Also tied for the No. 10 spot on LSU’s all-time performance lists in the women’s high jump with personal bests of 5-9 ¾ indoors and 5-10 outdoors … Was the NCAA Indoor Bronze Medalist in the triple jump during her senior season in 2014 … Was the seventh-place finisher nationally at the NCAA Indoor Championships during her junior season in 2013 to earn her first career All-America honor … Earned her first career All-America honor outdoors with a fourth-place finish nationally in the triple jump at the 2014 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships … Swept SEC Indoor and SEC Outdoor bronze medals in the triple jump during her senior season.
2014
Wrapped up her collegiate career with a brilliant senior season as a two-time All-American and two-time All-SEC performer in the triple jump during the 2014 season … Jumped a lifetime personal best of 44-1 ¼ on her very last triple jump as a Lady Tiger to earn a fourth-place finish nationally at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships held in Eugene, Oregon … Lifetime PR of 44-1 ¼ earned her first career All-America honor outdoors as one of the NCAA’s leading triple jumpers …Moved into a tie for the No. 4 spot on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list with her lifetime best of 44-1 ¼ … Also competed in the NCAA semifinals in the high jump for the first time in her collegiate career, tying for 16th place in the event with a clearance of 5-7 ¾ at Oregon’s Hayward Field … Qualified for the national semifinals in both the high jump and triple jump with her performance at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in Jacksonville, Florida … Cleared a seasonal best of 5-9 ¾ to tie for eighth place in the high jump and jumped 43-1 (+0.3) for ninth place in the triple jump at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds … Scored 6.5 points for the Lady Tigers with her efforts at the SEC Outdoor Championships in Lexington, Kentucky … Jumped an impressive 43-4 ½ (+1.0) to bag the SEC Outdoor bronze medal in the triple jump at the SEC Outdoor Championships … Also cleared 5-7 ¾ to tie for eighth place in the high jump at the SEC Outdoor Championships … Jumped a wind-legal outdoor personal best of 19-5 ½ (+1.4) for a 13th-place finish in her only long jump competition of the season at the SEC Outdoor meet … Won the triple jump title at the Battle on the Bayou (42-3 ½w) during the outdoor season … Also finished runner-up in the triple jump at the Hurricane Alumni Invitational (41-1 ¾), LSU Alumni Gold (41-8 ½) and LSU Invitational (43-1) during the outdoor season … Ended an outstanding indoor season as the NCAA Indoor bronze medalist in the triple jump, posting a series-best mark of 43-9 ¾ at the NCAA Indoor Championships held in Albuquerque, New Mexico … Was also the bronze medalist at the SEC Indoor Championships with an indoor personal best of 44-0 ¾ … Moved into the No. 7 spot on LSU’s all-time indoor performance list in the triple jump with her performance at the SEC Indoor meet … Also earned a 13th-place finish in the long jump at the SEC Indoor Championships with an indoor seasonal-best mark of 19-5 ½ in the competition … Crowned the triple jump champion at the New Mexico Team Invitational during the indoor season at the University of New Mexico … Posted a series-best mark of 42-9 at the New Mexico Team Invitational … Was the runner-up in the triple jump at the LSU Twilight with a mark of 41-5 ¼ … Also placed third at the Tyson Invitational (42-0 ½), fourth at the Texas A&M Triangular (38-8 ¼) and fifth at the Auburn Indoor Invitational (40-4 ¼) during the 2014 indoor season … Followed the collegiate by winning the bronze medal in the women’s triple jump at the 2014 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships held in Sacramento, California … Jumped a career-best wind-aided mark of 44-6 ¼ on her third attempt en route to a bronze-medal-winning third-place finish at the USA Outdoor Championships.
2013
Emerged as one of the nation’s leading triple jumpers while earning All-America honors for the first time in her collegiate career … Scored two points for the Lady Tigers with a seventh-place finish in the triple jump final at the 2013 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships while reaching All-America status for the first time in her three seasons in Baton Rouge … Jumped a series-best of 43-3 ¼ on her very first jump of the competition en route to a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Indoor meet … A fourth-place finisher in the triple jump at the SEC Indoor Championships for her best career finish in the event at the conference meet … Jumped a lifetime PR of 43-9 to score five points for the Lady Tigers at the SEC Indoor Championships … Lifetime best of 43-9 was the No. 8-ranked mark on LSU’s all-time indoor performance list in the women’s triple jump … Eclipsed the 43-foot mark for the first time in her career at 43-1 for a runner-up finish in the triple jump at the Tyson Invitational … Jumped 40-6 for third place at the Texas A&M Triangular and fifth place at the Razorback Invitational … Also competed in the triple jump indoors at the Armory Collegiate Invitational, taking seventh place with a mark of 40-10 ½ … Set a new lifetime personal best of 19-8 in the long jump while taking ninth place in the event at the SEC Indoor meet … Jumped 19-4 for 11th place at the Armory Collegiate Invitational and 19-4 ¼ for fourth place at the LSU Twilight … Opened the indoor season by clearing an indoor seasonal best of 5-8 ¾ for seventh place in the high jump at the Crimson Tide Indoor Opener … An NCAA Championships qualifier in both the high jump and triple jump during the outdoor season … Ended her season by taking 15th place in the triple jump (41-3 ¾) and tying for 24th place in the high jump (5-9 ¾) at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds held in Greensboro, North Carolina … Finished in 11th place in both the high jump (5-7) and triple jump (40-9 ½) at the SEC Outdoor Championships … Won the high jump title at UCLA’s Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational while clearing a lifetime PR of 5-10 … Moved into a tie for the No. 10 spot on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the high jump with her seasonal-best jump of 5-10 … Also won the triple jump crown at UCLA with a winning mark of 40-4 ¼ on her only jump of the competition … Won the triple jump at the Battle on the Bayou by setting a wind-legal outdoor personal best of 41-7 ¾ while jumping into a strong headwind of 2.2 meters per second … Also competed in the triple jump at the Texas Relays (41-1 ½ ), LSU Alumni Gold (40-9) and Penn Relays (40-2 ¾) during the outdoor season … Was the third-place finisher in the high jump in each of her first two competitions of the outdoor season at the LSU Relays with a clearance of 5-6 ½ and in the B section at the Texas Relays with a mark of 5-8 ¾ … Earned her first career selection to the SEC Academic Honor Roll for her outstanding performance in the classroom.
2012
Was an NCAA Championships qualifier in both the long jump and triple jump for the first time in her collegiate career … Emerged as one of the nation’s top triple jumpers with her performance during the indoor season … Shattered her lifetime personal record with a seasonal-best mark of 42-9 ¾ in winning the triple jump at the LSU NCAA Indoor Qualifier … Made her debut at the NCAA Indoor Championships with a 13th-place finish in the triple jump after jumping 40-7 at the national meet … Wrapped up the 2012 indoor season as the No. 9-ranked triple jumper in the NCAA with her PR of 42-9 ¾ … Captured the bronze medal in the triple jump at the SEC Indoor Championships with a third-place finish after posting a series-best mark of 42-2 ¼ … Jumped 42-2 ¾ in a runner-up finish at the Tyson Invitational … Won the triple jump at the Texas A&M Dual Meet with a mark of 40-11 ¾ before taking second place at the Razorback Invitational with a best of 41-10 ¾ … Cleared 5-8 ¾ for 14th place in the high jump and posted an indoor seasonal-best mark of 18-11 ¾ for 16th place in the long jump at the SEC Indoor meet … Cleared a lifetime PR of 5-9 ¾ for third place in the high jump at the Razorback Invitational … Set an outdoor personal best in the high jump with a seasonal-best clearance of 5-8 ¾ in winning the event title at the LSU Relays … Competed in the long jump at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds while setting an outdoor PR of 19-4 ¾ to finish in 28th place … Scored three points for the Lady Tigers by taking sixth place in the long jump with a career-best wind-aided mark of 20-5 ¾ at the SEC Outdoor Championships … Helped the Lady Tigers claim their fifth SEC Outdoor crown in six seasons with her effort … Also took 10th place in the high jump with a clearance of 5-7 ¾ and 10th place in the triple jump with a mark of 40-2 ¾ at the SEC Outdoor Championships … Won the high jump title at the Arizona State Tri-Meet (5-5).
2011
Emerged as one of the premier jumpers in the SEC as a freshman in 2011 … Was an SEC scorer for the Lady Tigers in both the long jump and triple jump … Scored five points in her debut at the SEC Indoor Championships while earning a fifth-place finish in the long jump and eighth-place finish in the triple jump … Set a lifetime personal record of 19-6 ¾ while scoring four points in the long jump at the SEC Indoor meet … Jumped 40-11 ½ in the triple jump at the conference meet … Also competed in the high jump at the SEC Indoor Championships, earning a ninth-place finish in the competition with a clearance at 5-6 … Was named to the SEC All-Freshman Team in the high jump and triple jump as the top freshman performer in the conference at the SEC Indoor meet … Set a lifetime PR of 41-0 ½ in the triple jump in an eighth-place finish at the Razorback Invitational indoors … Also eclipsed the 40-foot mark in the triple jump indoors at the Purple Tiger Invitational (40-5) and LSU NCAA Indoor Qualifier (40-1 ¼) … Set an indoor PR of 5-8 in the high jump in a ninth-place finish at the Tyson Invitational … Also earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors during the 2011 outdoor season with her sixth-place finish in the triple jump at the SEC Outdoor Championships … Recorded a series-best wind-aided mark of 41-1 ¾ en route to a sixth-place finish at the conference meet … Also finished in 11th place in the high jump (5-7) and 22nd place in the long jump (18-1 ¾) at the SEC Outdoor Championships … Competed in the triple jump at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds for the first time in her career … Was a 25th-place finisher in the event in the national quarterfinals after jumping an outdoor personal record of 40-2 ¾ in the event held in Bloomington, Indiana … Posted a seasonal-best wind-aided mark of 42-4 in a runner-up finish at the LSU Alumni Gold … Kicked off the outdoor season by taking second place in both the high jump (5-7 ¾) and triple jump (40-4w) at the LSU Tiger Relays … Contributed a total of eight points with a sweep of SEC Indoor and SEC Outdoor team titles during the 2011 season.
PRIOR TO LSU
The top jumps prospect in the state of Louisiana for the Class of 2010 … Joined the Lady Tigers with personal bests of 5-8 in the high jump and 39-7 ¼ in the triple jump while competing for East Ascension High School … Set her personal best of 5-8 in the high jump at the St. Amant Invitational during the 2009 outdoor season … Also set her PR of 39-7 ¼ in the triple jump during the 2009 outdoor season while winning the regional title at the Region 2-5A Championships … Was a six-time state champion in the high jump and triple jump … Captured five state titles in the high jump during her high school career … Won back-to-back-to-back Class 5A outdoor state titles in 2008, 2009 and 2010 … Also won back-to-back Division I indoor state titles in 2009 and 2010 … Set the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Division I Indoor State Championships meet record with a clearance of 5-7 to take home the state crown in 2010 … Captured her first career LHSAA Class 5A outdoor state title in the triple jump as a junior in 2009 with a mark of 38-11 ¾ at the state meet … Finished runner-up in the triple jump at the LHSAA Division I Indoor Championships in three-straight years from 2008-10 … Also placed second in the long jump and triple jump at the Class 5A outdoor state meet as a senior in 2010 … Finished her high school career as an eight-time district champion and eight-time regional champion combined between the high jump and triple jump from 2007-10.
PERSONAL
Full name is Lynnika Francine Pitts … Born on May 19, 1992 … Parents are James and Linda Pitts … Has two brothers, Jamie and Jermain … Boasted an impressive 3.6 cumulative grade-point average at East Ascension High School … Was named to the honor roll in each of her last four years while maintaining a GPA of 3.5 or better … Was elected her high school’s Homecoming Queen in 2009 … Was a member of the cheerleading squad at East Ascension High School her last four years … Lettered in gymnastics in 2007 … Graduated from LSU in August 2014 with her degree in kinesiology.