LSU Press Releases:
Duncan Defends Title at Texas Relays
AUSTIN, Texas – Senior sprint star Kimberlyn Duncanmade the most of her outdoor debut in the 100-meter dash this weekend as she became the third Lady Tiger sprinter in meet history to win back-to-back titles in the women’s university final during Saturday’s finale at the 86th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Duncan also ran the second leg on LSU’s 4x100-meter relay team that set a seasonal best in a runner-up finish in the women’s invitational race to cap a strong performance by the Lady Tigers in Austin.
After qualifying with a wind-aided run of 11.15 seconds in her first 100-meter race of the season during Friday’s preliminary round, Duncan returned to the track as the favorite to defend her Texas Relays title from last season when she electrified the Mike A. Myers Stadium crowd with a career-best wind-aided effort of 10.94 for her first career relays victory.
And she surged ahead of the field midway through Saturday’s race and crossed the finish line with a winning wind-aided 11.06 to take the tape over the Texas A&M tandem of Ashley Collier (11.15w) and Ashton Purvis (11.20w). Texas Tech’s Cierra White (11.21w) trailed in fourth place and Texas A&M’s Jennifer Madu (11.26w) rounded out the top five in fifth place.
With the win, Duncan joined LSU greats Cheryl Taplin (1993-94) and Muna Lee (2003-04) as the only Lady Tigers to win back-to-back university titles in the 100-meter dash in the history of the Texas Relays.
Her windy effort of 11.06 is not only the NCAA’s leading 100-meter dash this spring, but it is also the No. 2-ranked performance worldwide in races run under all conditions.
Duncan’s win in the 100-meter final came just over an hour after she guided the Lady Tigers to their seasonal-best performance in the 4x100-meter relay while running in the women’s invitational race. Duncan teamed with junior Jasmin Stowers on the leadoff leg, junior Takeia Pinckney on the third leg and junior Toshika Sylvester on the anchor leg to take second place with 43.70 clocking behind the winning time of 42.97 by the four sprinters from Elite Speed featuring Gabby Mayo, Michelle-Lee Ahye, Scottesha Miller and LSU alum Muna Lee.
The Lady Tigers emerged from the race with the NCAA’s No. 4-ranked sprint relay team for the 2013 season with their best of 43.70 this spring.
“Our main thing coming here was just improving as a team. I think we did that this weekend,” said Duncan, who hails from Katy, Texas. “We’ve still got some work to do on the relay, but we got a little bit better. I really wanted to win the 100 again in my last Texas Relays (as a Lady Tiger), so I’m happy to do that. I feel good about where I’m at early in the season with these being my first races of the year.
“It’s been great every year I’ve come back here to the Texas Relays. I’m always happy to be back where I’ve got so many friends and family. It’s great to see them, but it’s also a lot of fun to compete here each year.”
Duncan was not the only Lady Tiger to follow her appearance in the invitational 4x100-meter relay with an impressive finish in her individual event as Stowers ran her fastest 100-meter hurdle race in two years with her third-place finish in Saturday’s championship final in the women’s university 100-meter hurdles.
After earning her spot in the final with a seasonal-best wind-aided run of 13.18 in Friday’s qualifying round, Stowers slashed three tenths of a second from her seasonal best with a windy 12.88 (+2.1) in the final to earn a third-place finish behind Clemson’s NCAA Indoor champion Brianna Rollins (12.54w) and Academy of Art’s Vashti Thomas (12.70w) in the fastest collegiate race of the year.
The NCAA Indoor bronze medalist is poised to add an NCAA Outdoor medal to her resume as she trails only Rollins in the NCAA Division 1 rankings in the No. 2 spot early in the season.
By running a wind-aided 12.88 in Saturday’s final, Stowers has already run faster than she did all of last season as a sophomore when she finished with a seasonal-best all-conditions time of 12.92 in winning her second-straight SEC Outdoor title in the 100 hurdles. She also matched her wind-legal PR of 12.88 when she won her first career SEC crown as a freshman in 2011.
“It really helps me being able to run an extra event this year,” Stowers said of her performance in running both the hurdles and sprint relay. “Coach (Dennis) Shaver said it would benefit me in the hurdles to run on our relay this year. The hurdles is really a sprint race. You need good sprint techniques to run well. I felt really good running it today. I think it also helped me that I opened up at home last weekend instead of here at Texas like I did last season. I felt confident that I would come here and run well this weekend.”
Like Duncan, sophomore Aaron Ernest was impressive in his 100-meter opener this weekend while also guiding the Tigers to a seasonal-best performance in the men’s 4x100-meter relay final on Saturday.
Ernest first took to the track for the final of the Clyde Littlefield 4x100-Meter Relay as LSU’s second leg as he teamed up with senior Damar Forbes, freshman Darrell Bush and junior Shermund Allsop in the race.
The Tigers passed the stick around the track in a seasonal-best time of 39.56 for a fourth-place finish with the fourth-fastest time in the NCAA this season. Saturday’s sprint relay final produced the six fastest relays this season as the Tigers followed Texas A&M (38.64), Florida (38.99) and TCU (39.54) across the finish line. LSU was followed in the race by Tennessee (39.75) and Baylor (39.84).
Ernest was even more impressive when he returned to the track to run the final of the men’s university 100-meter dash as he claimed the silver medal in his first final of the outdoor season. After running a wind-aided 10.29 in his first 100-meter race of the season on Friday morning, Ernest dropped his seasonal best with a wind-legal 10.18 (+1.6) for the third-fastest performance worldwide in 2013.
The Tiger sophomore finished runner-up to Texas A&M senior Ameer Webb (10.14), while Jackson State’s Brent Lee (10.33) followed well back in third place in the race.
Ernest’s wind-legal 10.18 on Saturday afternoon is just one one-hundredth of a second off of his personal record of 10.17 that he twice set as a freshman a season ago. He ran 10.17 in the NCAA semifinal en route to an All-American eighth-place finish in the final at the NCAA Championships and in a silver-medal-winning finish for the United States at the IAAF World Junior Championships last summer.
Ernest talked about his performance after seeing his first action of the 2013 outdoor season this weekend while nursing a foot injury following his appearance at the NCAA Indoor Championships three weeks ago.
“I opened pretty well in the 100 this weekend. I’m happy with it,” Ernest said. “I’m not really thinking about (my injury) too much. I felt great today, and I think that showed. I did not even practice until this Wednesday when I spiked up for the first time since NCAA Indoors. I’m really happy with my start to the year being able to run so close to my PR this early.”
Fellow sophomore Rodney Brown enjoyed a silver-medal-winning performance of his own during Saturday’s finale at the 86th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays while smashing his personal best in discus and inching so very close to LSU’s 24-year-old school record in the event.
Brown found himself in sixth place heading into the final following a top mark of 190 feet, 9 inches in the preliminary round, but surged into second place overall when he launched a lifetime PR of 206-3 on his fifth toss of the afternoon to finish runner-up to the winning mark of 216-7 by UCLA’s national leader Julian Wruck. Not only did Brown eclipse his previous best by more than nine feet after opening the season with a best mark of 197-1 at the Louisiana Classics, but he has already raised his PR by nearly 16 feet this spring after opening with a best of 190-8 from a year ago.
Brown also finds himself less than three feet from the 24-year-old school record of 209-1 set during the 1989 season by former NCAA Champion and Tiger great John Nichols.
A native of nearby Chappell Hill, Texas, Brown certainly made the most of his homecoming this weekend as LSU’s top finisher in the men’s university discus final since Nichols took three Texas Relays titles in 1989, 1990 and 1992. Brown even improved upon a fifth-place finish in the discus in his Texas Relays debut as a freshman last spring.
“I never had a chance to compete at the Texas Relays while in high school, so it means a lot to me to throw a big PR here in my home state,” said the product of Navasota High School. “Last year really lit a fire under me. I’ve worked very hard on my technique and in training over the past year. I’m trying not to chase marks so much, but to have the right technique I need to go out there and throw far.”
The Tigers and Lady Tigers even wrapped up this year’s meet by running seasonal-bests in the 4x400-meter relay as the men took fourth place and the women took sixth place in the final events of the day.
The Tigers had a fourth-place finish in the Cleburne Price, Jr. 4x400-Meter Relay Invitational as the team of sophomore Quincy Downing (46.42), freshman Darrell Bush (45.57), freshman Cyril Grayson (46.13) and senior Caleb Williams (47.15) clocked a seasonal best of 3 minutes, 5.27 seconds to follow Florida (3:02.65), Texas A&M (3:02.76) and Baylor (3:03.90) across the finish line.
The Lady Tigers ran a seasonal best of their own at 3:32.04 as senior Siedda Herbert (53.96), junior Nikita Tracey (52.95), sophomore Montenae Roye-Speight (53.45) and junior Natoya Goule (51.68) teamed to claim the sixth spot in the race behind Florida (3:27.61), Texas (3:27.65), Texas A&M (3:28.27), Arkansas (3:28.42) and Illinois (3:31.63).
In the wake of Saturday’s 4x400-meter relay finals, the Tigers rank No. 4 and the Lady Tigers rank No. 6 on the NCAA’s performance list for the 2013 outdoor season.
“We really took a big step forward as a team here this weekend,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “I’m very proud with the way both of our teams competed today to finish off a great weekend. We did some great things across the board in each of the event areas that are really going to help us as we move forward. That’s what we try to do as a team each week, get just a little bit better than we were the week before.
“We’ll have a great chance to achieve that again next weekend when we go out West to face a very good UCLA team in a dual meet that we’re all looking forward to. It should be a lot of fun.”
The Tigers and Lady Tigers are back on the road next week as they spend part of their Spring Break week in Los Angeles, Calif., for its dual meet with the UCLA Bruins on Saturday, April 6, at UCLA’s Drake Stadium. They will then return home to play host to the Battle on the Bayou on April 13 and the LSU Alumni Gold meet on April 20 at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium in Baton Rouge.
Lady Tigers Sweep Medley Relays in Texas
AUSTIN, Texas – After winning the women’s 4x800-meter relay on Thursday night, the Lady Tigers defended their sprint medley and distance medley relay championships on Friday night at Mike A. Myers Stadium to finish the third day of competition at the 86th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays a perfect 3-for-3 in relay finals on the weekend.
The Lady Tigers won their second-straight sprint medley relay crown and fourth in five seasons at the Texas Relays with the second-fastest time in school history at 3 minutes, 43.98 seconds.
They followed by capturing the distance medley relay title for the second-straight season with the fourth-fastest time in school history at 11:23.55 as they beat the Texas Longhorns to the finish line in both races.
Despite making a late lineup change, the team of seniorLatoya McDermott (200 meters), senior Kimberlyn Duncan (200 meters), senior Siedda Herbert (400 meters) and junior Natoya Goule (800 meters) defended its sprint medley crown from a year ago with the team’s 13th win in the event all-time at the Texas Relays.
The Lady Tigers were running in second place to Texas at the second change between Duncan and Herbert and again at the third exchange between Herbert and Goule on the anchor leg.
Goule followed 10 meters behind Texas anchor Kendra Chambers for the first lap of the 800-meter leg before the NCAA Indoor Champion sped past the Longhorn senior on the backstretch and took control of the race with just 250 meters to go. Goule was the first to cross the finish line as the Lady Tigers took the title in 3:43.98. Arkansas followed as the runner-up with a time of 3:45.40 thanks to a strong anchor leg by NCAA Indoor 400-meter silver medalist Regina George, while Texas trailed in third place at 3:47.88.
By winning Friday’s sprint medley relay in 3:43.98, the Lady Tigers equaled the second-fastest time in school history as they finished just off the school record and meet record of 3:43.79 set last spring.
The LSU women have now won 13 sprint medley relay titles at the Texas Relays since their inaugural victory back in 1987, including four victories in the last five years with wins in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013.
The Tigers followed with an eighth-place finish in the men’s sprint medley relay event as their foursome of freshman Darrell Bush, senior Shermund Allsop, freshman Cyril Grayson and sophomore Quincy Downing had a time of 3:26.18 to follow Mississippi State (3:18.09), Texas A&M (3:18.85), Sam Houston State (3:22.34) and Pittsburgh (3:23.07) across the finish line in the second heat.
The Lady Tigers then capped the evening session with a dominating performance in defending their distance medley relay championship as senior Laura Carleton anchored the team to victory by seven seconds with an impressive 40-meter lead on the homestretch over freshman Connor Ward running the anchor leg for Texas.
Redshirt freshman Andria Aguilar ran the 1,200-meter leadoff leg before sophomore Montenae Roye-Speightgave the Lady Tigers a commanding lead with a strong 400-meter leg as she gave way to fellow sophomore and St. Louis native Samantha Levin at the second exchange. Levin held the advantage over 800 meters before Carleton took the baton with one mile separating LSU from the victory.
Carleton held a comfortable lead over Ward before stretching her advantage to 40 meters on the homestretch as she crossed the finish line in 11:23.55 for the fourth-fastest DMR in school history.
Ward followed more than seven seconds behind LSU’s SEC Indoor 5000-meter champion as Texas took second place in 11:30.78, followed by Texas A&M in third place overall with a time of 11:37.76 in the race.
The Lady Tigers had never won the distance medley relay at the Texas Relays before the 2012 season, but have now claimed each of the last two championships in Austin. With three relay wins this weekend, they now own 43 relay titles all-time at the Texas Relays and are just one victory shy of their single-season meet record of four relay wins from a season ago.
“What a great performance by our women in defending the relays they won here a year ago. They showed a lot of pride tonight in two very competitive races,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “That’s exactly what kind of effort we expect from our teams when we come to a meet like the Texas Relays. I’m so proud of what they were able to accomplish here tonight.
“We like to see our athletes improve each time they are given an opportunity, and I think we saw some of that today from both of our teams.”
One Lady Tiger who took advantage of her opportunity on Friday was junior Nikita Tracey, who slashed nearly one full second off her seasonal best in a third-place finish in the final of the 400-meter hurdles.
Tracey, who earned a place in the final with the sixth-fastest time of Thursday’s qualifying round at 58.76 seconds, set a seasonal best for the second-straight day as she ran 57.83 for third place behind Texas’ champion Danielle Dowie (56.58) and Iowa State’s Eseroghene Okoro (57.82). Tracey became the No. 7-ranked performer in school history with her performance in Friday’s final.
A two-time NAIA Champion while competing for Oklahoma Baptist University, Tracey is also the NCAA’s No. 5-ranked 400-meter hurdler this spring with her seasonal best of 57.83.
Senior Damar Forbes also enjoyed a strong performance during Friday’s evening session as he matched Tracey’s third-place finish with a third-place finish of his own in his first long jump outdoors this spring. He ended the competition with a series-best wind-aided mark of 25 feet, 10 ¾ inches (+2.1) in the sixth round to win the bronze medal in the event.
Forbes trailed Florida’s Marquis Dendy (26-9 ¾w) and Ohio State’s Mike Hartfield (26-9) in the final long jump standings while emerging as the NCAA’s No. 3-ranked performer in the event for 2013.
Like Tracey, Tiger sophomore Andreas Duplantis cracked LSU’s all-time Top 10 list with his performance in the men’s university pole vault as he cleared an outdoor personal best of 17-7 on his first attempt en route to a 10th-place finish overall. Duplantis had first-attempt clearances at 16-7 ¼, 17-1 and 17-7 before fouling out of the pole vault after the bar was raised to 18-1. The event featured an NCAA-leading performance by Ole Miss’ Sam Kendricks as he cleared a stadium record of 19-0 ¾ for the victory.
Duplantis strengthened his hold on the No. 10 spot on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the pole vault while eclipsing his previous outdoor PR of 17-5 ½ set at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds a year ago.
Junior Keri Emanuel highlighted LSU’s strong field-event performance in Friday’s afternoon session as she opened her outdoor season with a seventh-place finish in the women’s triple jump.
Emanuel, the sixth-place finisher in the triple jump at this year’s NCAA Indoor Championships, jumped a series-best wind-aided mark of 42-8 ¾ on her sixth and final attempt to claim seventh place in the final standing. But with Emanuel’s final jump of 42-8 ¾ (+4.3) being over the allowable wind reading for NCAA qualification, her jump of 41-7 ¾ (+2.5) in the third round will be her top mark on the NCAA list.
Fellow junior and NCAA Indoor All-American Lynnika Pitts also competed in her first triple jump outdoors as she followed in 11th place with a series-best jump of 41-1 ½ (+1.6) in the first round. Pitts began the day with a third-place finish in the B section of the women’s high jump as she matched her outdoor PR with a clearance of 5-8 ¾ on her third attempt.
Two Tigers also set outdoor PRs in their B section field events as sophomore Rodney Brown threw 55-1 ½ for fifth place in the shot put and freshman Fitzroy Dunkley cleared 6-8 ¾ for 13th place in the high jump.
Friday’s morning session featured five LSU qualifiers into Saturday’s finals at the 86th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays as Duncan and sophomore Aaron Ernest each earned a spot in the final of the 100-meter dash, juniorJasmin Stowers secured a lane in the final of the 100-meter hurdles and both the men’s 4x100-meter relay and women’s 4x400-meter relay advanced to their respective finals.
Duncan is poised to become the third Lady Tiger in program history to repeat as the women’s university 100-meter champion after claiming her first career Texas Relays title a year ago.
While running her first 100-meter race of the 2013 season, Duncan sprinted to a wind-aided time of 11.15 (+2.3) to win the 12th qualifying heat with the fastest time of the preliminary round and the second-fastest run under all conditions in the NCAA ranks this spring. Duncan ran a career-best wind-aided time of 10.94 in the finals to take the Texas Relays title last season.
Lady Tiger greats Cheryl Taplin (1993-94) and Muna Lee (2003-04) also won back-to-back Texas Relays gold medals in the 100 meters during their collegiate careers.
Ernest and Stowers were each the fourth-fastest qualifiers in their respective events on Friday morning as Ernest ran a wind-aided 10.29 (+2.9) in his season-opening race in the 100-meter dash and Stowers sprinted to a seasonal-best wind-aided time of 13.18 (+3.9) in just her second race of the season in the 100-meter hurdles.
Ernest also ran the second leg for the Tigers in the qualifying round of the 4x100 relay as he teamed with Forbes, freshman Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Allsop for the sixth-fastest relay time of the day at 40.32. Other entries into the men’s 4x100 relay final include Texas A&M (39.73), Florida (39.76), Baylor (40.00) TCU (40.02), Jackson State (40.20), Houston (40.59), Louisiana Tech (40.74) and Tennessee (40.75).
Herbert, Tracey and Goule also helped the Lady Tigers claim the ninth and final qualifying spot in the final of the women’s 4x400 relay as they teamed with sophomore Montenae Roye-Speight on the third leg to run an early-season 3:38.50 to win the last of seven preliminary heats in the final event of the morning session.
The Lady Tigers will also run as part of a world-class field in the women’s invitational 4x100-meter relay championship during Saturday’s finale at the 86th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
“Both of our teams really had a great day today. We’re looking forward to an exciting finish tomorrow on what has been a tremendous weekend for us,” Shaver said. “We need to take advantage of another chance for both of our teams to get just a little bit better tomorrow. Saturday at the Texas Relays always brings out the best in the teams that are here.”
Lady Tigers Take First Title at Texas Relays
AUSTIN, Texas – After winning a single-season meet record of four relay titles a season ago, the Lady Tigers scored their first relay victory of the 86th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays on Thursday night by running away with the women’s 4x800-meter relay for their fourth win in the event in six seasons at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Tiger junior Thomas Reinecke also smashed his lifetime personal record to defend his Texas Relays crown in the B section of the men’s pole vault finals, while juniorKaren Henning and sophomore Jeremy Tuttle added personal-best performances with fifth-place finishes in the hammer throw to lead the way in the field events during the second day of action at this year’s Texas Relays.
The Lady Tigers have dominated the 4x800-meter relay at the Texas Relays in recent years, and added to their trophy case with Thursday’s victory for their fourth win in the last six seasons.
Led by a split of 2 minutes, 5 seconds on the anchor leg by NCAA Indoor champion Natoya Goule, the Lady Tigers cruised to victory in 8:41.25 while finishing nearly five seconds ahead of the runner-up team from Illinois crossing the finish line in 8:46.08. Goule brought home the victory following strong legs by senior Laura Carleton(2:12), senior Charlene Lipsey (2:08) and sophomore Samantha Levin (2:16) in the race.
The Baylor Bears finished well back in third place at 8:46.77, followed by the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels in fourth place at 8:58.42 and UCLA Bruins in fifth place at 8:59.53.
The Lady Tigers have featured one of the nation’s strongest 4x800-meter relay teams in recent years as they claimed their fourth victory at the Texas Relays in six seasons on Thursday night following titles in 2008, 2009 and 2011. They have now won five Texas Relays titles in the event all-time while capturing their inaugural victory in 1985.
While the Lady Tigers claimed LSU’s first event title at this year’s Texas Relays, Reinecke defended his crown in the B section of the men’s pole vault while eclipsing his lifetime best by nearly five inches.
Reinecke was strong throughout the event as he cleared the bar at 17 feet, 1 inch on his first attempt, 17-5 on his third attempt and 17-9 on his first attempt before fouling out of the meet with three misses at 18-1. He actually set his previous PR of 17-4 ½ in winning the B section at the Texas Relays during his sophomore season a year ago. With his career-best clearance of 17-9 on Friday, Reinecke is now tied as the No. 5-ranked pole vaulter outdoors in the program’s storied history.
Reinecke was one of three competitors clearing 17-9 in the pole vault, but took the crown based on the number of misses in the competition. He cleared 17-9 on his first attempt along with Texas A&M freshman Chase Wolfle, but earned the victory with only five misses during the competition to the six total misses by Wolfle.
Senior Joseph Caraway and junior Jaora Johnson also cleared lifetime bests in Thursday’s pole vault as Caraway cleared 17-5 to tie for fourth place and Johnson cleared 17-1 to tie for ninth place.
It also proved to be a memorable day for two LSU hammer throwers as Henning and Tuttle each earned a fifth-place finish in their respective finals while setting matching personal records during the competition.
Henning wasted no time in smashing her career best with an opening mark of 201-0 on her first throw of the day as she locked up a fifth-place finish in the women’s university hammer throw. Henning moved up a spot into the No. 3 position on LSU’s all-time list while eclipsing her previous PR of 197-2. Winning the women’s hammer throw at 236-9 was professional Amanda Bingson of Nike, followed by UCLA’s Ida Storm (217-1) in second place, Baylor’s Erin Atkinson (211-5) in third place and Akron’s Brittany Funk (204-9) in fourth place overall.
Fellow junior Denise Hinton followed Henning in eighth place in the women’s final with a series-best throw of 187-3 on her sixth and final attempt of the competition.
Tuttle matched Henning’s effort with a PR of his own at 201-0 in the third round of throws en route to a fifth-place finish in the men’s university hammer throw. UCLA’s Alec Faldermeyer (228-10) took home the men’s crown, followed by Oregon’s Greg Skipper (216-5) in second place, Abilene Chirstian’s Baptiste Kerjean (213-8) in third place and Florida’s Kyle Strawn (204-7) in fourth place.
Tuttle cracked the LSU’s Top 10 list for the first time in his collegiate career as the No. 8-ranked hammer thrower in school history as he broke his previous PR by more than seven feet. He opened the season with a top mark of 193-6 at the Louisiana Classics back on March 16.
“What a great way for both of our teams to open up the meet today,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “When you see so many personal bests being set this early in the season, it shows the competitive mindset of those athletes in making this trip and the potential they have to keep improving over the course of the outdoor season.
“We hope this is the start of another great weekend for our teams at the Texas Relays. It’s a great opportunity for us to show some improvement as a team here this weekend.”
Lady Tiger freshman Therese Jernbeck finished in eighth place in her first collegiate heptathlon as she ended Thursday’s action with 5,261 points in seven events over two days of competition at the Texas Relays.
After opening the day by scoring 603 points with a series-best jump of 16-11 ¼ in the long jump, Jernbeck threw a seasonal best of 119-6 for 599 points in the javelin before clocking her new lifetime personal record of 2:14.67 for the fastest time of the day and an additional 897 points in the first heat of the 800-meter run.
Jernbeck eclipsed her previous 800-meter PR of 2:15.98 set in her collegiate debut in the pentathlon at the Razorback Invitational during the indoor season. She actually set two lifetime bests in her first heptathlon as a Lady Tiger as she also cleared a career-best height of 5-7 ¾ in Wednesday’s high jump en route to a Day 1 score of 3,162 points.
A native of Stockholm, Sweden, Jernbeck was just 63 points shy of her personal-best score of 5,324 points set as a member of Team Sweden at the 2011 European Junior Athletics Championships.
Mississippi State sophomore and reigning NCAA Indoor pentathlon champion Erica Bougard took the heptathlon title at the 86th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays with a national-leading score of 5,649 points in her two days of competition. Lindsay Vollmer of Kansas followed in second place with 5,578 points, while Makeba Alcide of Arkansas trailed in third place with 5,576 points.
The Lady Tigers first took to the track in the qualifying round of the 400-meter hurdles as junior Nikita Traceyearned her spot in the final with a seasonal-best performance during Thursday’s preliminary action.
While running in the last of 11 qualifying heats, Tracey posted a seasonal-best time of 58.76 seconds to finish runner-up to Texas’ Danielle Dowie (58.22) in the race as the sixth-fastest qualifier of the day. She earned a spot in the championship final that is scheduled to run at 6:45 p.m. CT on Friday night at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Fellow junior Shana-Gaye Tracey finished in 13th place in Thursday’s qualifying with a run of 1:00.22, while sophomore Chanice Chase ran 1:02.53 to finish in 39th place overall.
SLU Press Release:
AUSTIN, Texas – The Southeastern Louisiana University track and field teams compiled four event victories over the weekend at three separate meets.
At the 86th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin, Texas, Jeffrey Milliron set a personal record en route to winning the section B men's discus throw with a mark 187 feet, three inches. Derek Hampton also PRed while placing seventh in the section A men's javelin throw (218-04).
Jenna Baker and Nia Stewart each finished 10th in their respective events, Baker in the section B women's javelin throw (127-11) and Stewart in the section B women's long jump (17-11.00). Stewart also finished 40th in the women's 100-meter dash preliminaries (11.90 seconds), establishing a new personal-best time.
Southeastern's 4x100-meter relay team of Brandon Daniels, T.J. Herbert, Billy Minnifield and Jerome Rudolph finished 18th in the men's prelims (41.38 seconds). Rudolph (10.66 seconds) and Herbert (10.69 seconds) finished 42nd and 44th, respectively, in the men's 100-meter dash prelims.
Lady Lion Alicia Noel finished 29th in the women's 400-meter hurdle prelims (1:01.93).
Just down the road in San Marcos, Texas, at the Bobcat Invitational, Southeastern's throwers turned in several strong performances. Jonathan Kinchen finished second in the men's hammer throw (187-08.75) and seventh in the discus throw (164-11.25), both personal bests, while Casey Revere placed third in the men's javelin throw (175-05).
Freshman Misha Frazier placed second in the women's javelin throw (126-08.50), 13th in the hammer throw (134-09.25) and 18th in the discus throw (116-02.50), a new personal record.
Sprinters Jerome Rudolph (21.52 seconds) and Billy Minnifield (21.55 seconds) finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the men's 200-meter dash with Minnifield also finishing eighth in the 100-meter dash (10.85 seconds). Both marks are PRs for Minnifield.
At the Jaguar Invitational in Mobile, Ala., Southeastern won three events. Joseph LeGrange PRed while winning the men's 3,000-meter run (9:09.00). Johnel Reamswon the men's high jump (6-08.25) with a new personal-best mark and Phillippe Moore claimed first in the men's long jump (24-01.00).
The Lady Lion 4x400-meter relay team of Lindsey Toups, Tess Mullings, Elise Beier and Heather Fitzhenry placed second with a time of 4:03.40. Also claiming second was Shaquell Windley in the men's 400-meter dash (48.11 seconds).
Third-place finishes for Southeastern included Toups in the women's 800-meter run (2:19.98), Jessica Fekete in the women's hammer throw (162-11.50) and Tarvoris Mack in the men's 400-meter hurdles (54.66 seconds).
Northwestern Press Release:
AUSTIN, Texas – The men's 4x200 relay team recorded the second fastest time in Northwestern State history to highlight the final day of the 86th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays track and field meet on Saturday.
The 4x200 squad, made up of freshmen Gabriel White and Hanoj Carter, junior Justin Walker and senior Kendal Taylor, crossed the finish line in a blistering 1:23.35 to earn second place.
Shakemia Johnson competed for the Lady Demons on Saturday, setting a personal record in the 'b' group of the discus competition.
The junior placed sixth in the event with a mark of 154-05, two feet further than her previous best of 152-04.
The Demons and Lady Demons travel to Stephen F. Austin next Saturday to compete in the Skechers/SFA Alumni Invitational.
ULM Press Release:
Broussard Sets PR in High Jump on Day Three of Texas Relays
AUSTIN, Texas – Senior Clint Broussard set a new personal record in the high jump to post a third-place finish and lead the ULM track & field team on Friday at the 86th Clyde Littefield Texas Relays at Myers Stadium.
Broussard cleared 2.13 meters for the first time in his collegiate career, but missed on three attempts to clear 2.16 meters. His jump leads the Sun Belt and ranks in the top 10 in the East Region this season.
Earlier in the day, ULM’s 4x400-meter relay team of freshman Mark Demus, freshman Nigel Cribbs, freshman Andrew Tate and senior Dimitri Hampton finished 15th overall with a time of 3:14.95.
A day after posting a personal best in the 400-meter hurdles, junior Martin Solomon clocked a season-best time of 14.79 in the 110-meter hurdles – the fourth best time in the Sun Belt this season.
Mutai Places Third in 5k at Texas Relays
AUSTIN, Texas – ULM senior Daniel Mutai finished third in the men’s 5,000-meter run to cap off day two of the 86th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Myers Stadium.
In his first appearance of the season in the 5k, Mutai registered a Sun Belt-leading time of 14:39.34 to finish just behind Columbia’s Paul Snyder (14:29.75) and McNeese State’s Alex Bruce-Littlewood (14:30.82). ULM freshman Dusan Makevic came in 15th place in a time of 15:25.16.
Earlier in the day, junior Martin Solomon ran a personal-best time of 52.51 in the preliminaries of the men’s 400-meter hurdles to win his heat, but finished in 10th place overall in a loaded field and was just shy of qualifying for the finals. Solomon -- who was competing in the 400 hurdles for just the second time this season -- has the third fastest time in the Sun Belt.
Sophomore Jamel Sams also ran a season-best time of 53.40 in the 400 hurdles to finish fifth in his heat and 20th overall. His time ranks in the top five in the Sun Belt this season.
On the women’s side, freshman Brianna Reid clocked a time of 1:07.99 in the 400 hurdles.
The Warhawks continue action at the Texas Relays Friday with the men’s high jump, men’s 110-meter hurdles, men’s 4x100-meter relay, men’s 4x400-meter relay and the men’s distance medley relay.
Louisiana Tech Press Release:
Dennis Richardson Races to a Pair of Seventh-Place Finishes at Texas Relays
AUSTIN, Texas - Dennis Richardson raced to a pair of seventh-place finishes as action wrapped up at the 86th Annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays Saturday afternoon at Mike A. Meyers Track in Austin.
Richardson, a junior, led off the day by running 10.53 in the 100m dash finals to place seventh overall.
The Pride, La. native followed that by running the first leg of the 4x100m relay that also placed seventh. Richardson teamed up with Trey Hadnot, Niko Richey and John Franklinto run 40.39.
On the women’s side, Kim Francis ran 13.38 in the 100m hurdles to finish ninth. That time now ranks tied for ninth in school history matching the 13.38 time ran by Antoinette Cobb in Baton Rouge, La. on April 17, 2010.
Louisiana Tech returns to action next week when Tech competes in the Stephen F. Austin Invitational on April 6 in Nacogdoches, Texas.
For complete coverage of Tech Track and Field, please follow @LATechTandF on Twitter and visit the official home of Louisiana Tech Athletics at LATechSports.com.
McNeese Press Release:
AUSTIN, Texas – Several personal records were set on Thursday for McNeese track and field athletes covering two different meets – the 86th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays and the Texas State Bobcat Invitational.
At the Texas Relays, the distance runners stole the show for McNeese.
Alex Bruce-Littlewood finished second in the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:30.82, just .93 seconds behind the leader, while Daniel Cliffe finished 11th in the event with a personal record time of 14:57.74.
Jarrett LeBlanc ran a personal best time of 9:23.91 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, bettering his previous mark by 26 seconds. His time was the third fastest in the conference this season.
Allison Crawford and Lauren Cooper each set personal records in the 5,000 meters. Crawford destroyed her old record of 18:57.42 by running an 18:19.28 on Thursday night while Cooper shaved 17 seconds off her personal best with a time of 18:32.39. Crawford's time is also the third fastest in the league this year while Cooper's time ranks as the seventh fastest.
At the Bobcat Invitational, the Cowboys got a fourth place finish from Thomas Canchola in the hammer throw when he marked out with a personal best of 184-3 and demolishing his old record by nearly 12 feet. The mark is the third farthest in the Southland Conference this season.
On the women's side, Simone Johnson finished seventh in the long jump with an 18-5, nearly 10 feet more than her previous personal best while Victoria Galaviz and RaKira Turner each had personal records in the hammer throw. Galaviz threw a 135-1, nearly seven feet longer than her previous record while Turner improved five inches on her personal best with a mark of 132-0.
Turner also finished 11th in the discus throw with a mark of 141-10, just three inches off her personal best in that event.