LSU Gold
Position
Throws
Height
6'3
Class
Freshman
Hometown
Baton Rouge, La.
High School
Broadmoor HS

Events: Weight Throw (68-3 3/4), Hammer Throw (212-2)

All-SEC

CAREER CAPSULE
A two-time NCAA qualifier in the hammer throw during his collegiate career with the Tigers … Competed at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds as a junior in 2015 and again as a senior in 2016 … Earned All-SEC honors during his senior season as the SEC Indoor Bronze Medalist in the weight throw … Closed out his career with personal bests of 68 feet, 3 3/4 inches in the weight throw and 212-2 in the hammer throw … Ranked No. 6 indoors and No. 8 outdoors on LSU’s all-time performance lists in his specialty events … Graduated from LSU in December 2016 with a degree in marketing.

2016
An All-SEC performer indoors and NCAA qualifier outdoors in his final season with the Tigers … Closed out the indoor season as the SEC Indoor Bronze Medalist in the weight throw while throwing a personal best of 68-3 3/4 at the conference meet … Moved into the No. 6 spot on LSU’s all-time indoor performnace list with his PR of 68-3 3/4 … Set three personal bests during the indoor season as he first raised his PR to 65-6 1/4 in a seventh-place finish at the Power Five Conference Clash before throwing 67-8 1/4 for third place at the Razorback Invitational the following week … Won the weight throw title at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic with a mark of 67-5 1/4 … Placed fourth at both the LSU High Performance Meet (65-9 3/4) and LSU Twilight (65-4 1/4) … Opened the season with back-to-back sixth-place finishes at the Purple Tiger Invitational (60-3) and Bayou Bengal Invitational (60-9 1/4) … Qualified for the hammer throw at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds for the second-straight season … Capped his outdoor season by throwing 197-5 for 36th place at the NCAA East Prelims held in Jacksonville, Florida … Was the 12th-place finisher in the hammer throw at the SEC Outdoor Championships with a series-best mark of 201-4 … Threw a big personal best of 212-2 in a runner-up finish at the Texas Invitational … Mark ranked No. 8 on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list at the end of the 2016 season … Kicked off his outdoor season with back-to-back marks of 206-0 for third place at the Hurricane Twilight and fifth place at the Texas Relays … Placed sixth at the LSU Invitational (209-8) and seventh at the LSU Alumni Gold (202-0).

2015
Qualified to throw the hammer at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds for the first time in his collegiate career … Competed in the event at the NCAA East Prelims held at North Florida’s Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville … Also competed in the hammer throw at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Starkville, Mississippi … Smashed his personal best with a seasonal-best throw of 206 feet, 5 inches in a sixth-place finish in the hammer throw at the LSU Alumni Gold meet … Moved into the No. 7 spot on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the men’s hammer throw with his PR of 206-5 … Also was the No. 30-ranked mark by a qualifier for the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds … Eclipsed the 200-foot mark for the first time in his collegiate career in his outdoor opener at the Louisiana Classics in Lafayette, where he threw a season-opening 203-11 in a runner-up finish … Also threw 201-0 in a seventh-place finish at the LSU Invitational in the team’s regular-season finale … Threw the hammer at the Texas Relays (196-9), Battle on the Bayou (195-6) and Jim Click Shootout (197-11) … Competed in the weight throw during the indoor season … Earned a 14th-place finish at the SEC Indoor Championships in Lexington, Kentucky, with a series-best mark of 61-3 … Established his personal best of 64-6 ½ in a third-place finish at the LSU High Performance Meet to rank No. 9 on LSU’s all-time indoor performance list in the event … Threw a season-opening 60-4 ½ for seventh place in the weight throw at the LSU Indoor Invitational … Placed third at the New Mexico Classic (60-6 ½), fourth at the LSU Twilight (61-11 ½) and fifth at the Razorback Invitational (60-8 ¾) … Also threw the weight at the Auburn Indoor Invitational (57-5) and Rod McCravy Memorial (56-5 ¼) during the indoor season.

2014
Lettered for the Tigers for the first time in his career during the indoor and outdoor seasons … Raised his personal best in the weight throw indoors by nearly 12 feet over the course of the season … Eclipsed the 60-foot mark for the first time in his career with a seasonal-best throw of 61-0 ¾ in a fifth-place finish in the weight throw at the LSU Twilight … Followed by finishing in 17th place in his debut at the SEC Indoor Championships, throwing a series-best of 57-1 ½ … Set personal bests in four-straight meets to open the 2014 indoor season, including marks of 57-3 for sixth place at the Auburn Indoor Invitational, 57-8 ½ for fourth place at the Texas A&M Triangular, 58-1 ¼ for seventh place at the New Mexico Team Invitational and 59-2 ¼ for sixth place at the Aggie Invitational … Also threw the weight at the Tyson Invitational indoors, throwing 57-1 ½ for eighth place in the event … Raised his personal best in the hammer throw by more than 24 feet over the course of the outdoor season … Threw a best of 186-9 in an eighth-place finish at the LSU Invitational in his regular-season finale outdoors … Followed by finishing in 16th place in his debut at the SEC Outdoor Championships with a mark of 180-6 … Set back-to-back personal bests to open the outdoor season with marks of 181-7 for third place at the Jim Mize Invitational and 181-11 for fourth place at the Battle on the Bayou … Took third place in the hammer with his top mark of 177-9 at Miami’s Hurricane Alumni Invitational … Also threw the hammer at the LSU Alumni Gold meet, throwing 172-5 for 12th place.

2013
Competed in the weight throw indoors and both the discus and hammer throw outdoors during his true freshman season for the Tigers in 2013 … Earned a seasonal-best fourth-place finish in the hammer throw at UCLA’s Rafer Johnson/Jackie Joyner-Kersee Invitational after throwing 154-6 in the event … Set a personal best of 162-1 in the hammer in a ninth-place finish at the LSU Relays … Finished in seventh place at the Battle on the Bayou (153-7) and 14th place at the LSU Alumni Gold (146-1) in the hammer throw … Threw a best of 126-2 in the discus in a 17th-place finish at the LSU Relays … Also threw the discus at the Louisiana Classics (120-2) and Battle on the Bayou (111-5) during the outdoor season … Posted a seasonal best of 49-1 ½ indoors in the 35-pound weight throw while claiming fifth place at the LSU Invitational … Earned back-to-back eighth-place finishes in the weight throw at the Texas A&M Triangular (46-2 ¾) and LSU Twilight (48-11 ½).

PRIOR TO LSU
Was a district champion in the discus during his prep career at Broadmoor High School … Was also a regional runner-up and fifth-place finisher at the state meet in the discus … Also finished as a district runner-up in the pole vault during his high school career … Helped lead his high school track team to a district championship … Was a three-year letterwinner in track and field under the direction of head coach Allan Brown … Also played football and soccer at Broadmoor High School … Was a first-team all-district midfielder on the soccer pitch … Was also a first-team all-district tight end and a second-team all-district defensive end on the football field.

PERSONAL
Full name is David Gerard Collins … Born on Sept. 21, 1994 … Parents are Loyetta Collins and David Phillips … Has four siblings: Loruhamah, Lahairoi, La’el and Leah … Brother, La’el, is a former All-American offensive lineman at LSU and now plays with the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL … An honor roll student during his prep career at Broadmoor … Graduated from LSU in December 2016 with a degree in marketing.

 

Full Bio