Lady Tigers Trio Shines at Last Chance Meet

BATON ROUGE -- With one final opportunity to qualify for next week’s NCAA Indoor Championships, a trio of Lady Tigers stepped up to the challenge and improved their standing on the national descending order list at the LSU Invitational on Friday.

Senior hurdler Angel Boyd, sophomore jumps standout Andrea Linton and freshman sprint sensation Samantha Henry each improved their already established NCAA provisional qualifying marks in their respective specialty events at the NCAA Qualifier at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.

“The ladies came into the meet tonight with the right mental frame of mind to go out and get something done and they did just that,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “They improved enough to where it’s more than likely going to get them into the championship meet, and we enhanced our position a great deal tonight in numbers and will have more chances to score.”

Henry entered the competition with a seasonal best time of 7.34 seconds in the 60-meter dash and eclipsed that mark by clocking a new personal record and strong NCAA provisional qualifying time of 7.29 in the preliminary round. The native of Kingston, Jamaica, has all but solidified her spot in the national meet as she enters the final week of the season ranked among the nation’s Top 10 performers in the event at No. 9.

Linton is also ranked in the Top 10 on the national descending order list following her performance in the triple jump as she posted a new indoor personal best jump 43 feet, 4 ¼ inches on Friday night, improving upon her previous best mark of 42-8 ¼  set in a third-place effort at the SEC Indoor Championships a week ago.

Also putting herself in a position to earn an invitation to the NCAA meet next weekend was Boyd, who entered the competition with a seasonal best time of 7.29 in the women’s 60-meter hurdles. The native of San Antonio, Texas, lined up for her preliminary race at No. 19 on the national list and moved into a tie for 15th after clocking a PR of 7.24, while also strengthening her grip on the No. 8 spot on the school’s all-time list.

“It just goes to show you what can happen when you rest them up a little bit like we did going to the SEC meet last weekend and this week coming into this meet,” Shaver said. “For them, it was all about trying to get in there and get something done for the team, and I’m proud of them for what they were able to do tonight. Now we’re looking for them to step up even more heading into next weekend.”

In the men’s 60-meter hurdles competition, junior Ryan Fontenot strengthened his position on the No. 4 spot on the school’s all-time list by covering the course with a new personal best time of 7.88. Fontenot improves his already established NCAA provisional qualifying time of 7.91 set in the consolation final at the Tyson Invitational three weeks ago with his second provisional time of the season.

A trio of Tiger freshmen also set new indoor personal best marks in the field events led by Josh Dominguez and Paul Watson in the pole vault. Dominguez cleared a height of 16-6 ¾ to set an overall PR in the event, while Watson managed to clear a height of 15-7 for the first time in his collegiate career. Adam Wilcox also set a new personal best in the shot put with a throw of 53-7.

Freshman Will Coppage recorded a jump of more than 25 feet for the second time this season with a mark of 25-2 ½ in the men’s long jump competition. He ranks as the nation’s No. 12 performer in the event entering the last weekend of the indoor season and is in a position to receive an invitation to the national meet with his season best mark of 25-2 ¾ set at the Tyson Invitational on Feb. 9.

“It was great to see some of the men step up big and compete for us tonight,” Shaver said. “Ryan Fontenot came in here and ran a personal best in the hurdles. You also look at what Paul and Josh were able to do in the pole vault after jumping well at the SEC meet last week. They improved tonight, and you just hope that’s a sign of things to come for us as we head to the outdoor season.

“I also thought Will Coppage jumped very well tonight right at his personal best or just a little short. He is certainly in a position with what he’s been able to do as a freshman to make his first trip to the NCAA meet, and we’re looking forward to that. I think that all of the guys who are going to be making the trip are ready to go and compete well for us.”

The Tigers and Lady Tigers will close out the indoor season next weekend as they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., to compete in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center. The NCAA is scheduled to release its list of declared athletes competing at the national meet at 9 p.m. CST on Monday.