TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- After opening the final day of the 2007 SEC Outdoor Championships in seventh place, the LSU women’s track and field team racked up 124.5 points Sunday at Sam Bailey Stadium to win their first outdoor conference title since the 1996 season.
The No. 1-ranked Lady Tigers captured their ninth SEC outdoor championship in program history by a convincing margin as they tallied 139.5 points during the course of the four-day meet, while the Arkansas Lady Razorbacks finished a distant second with 110 points.
“There weren’t very many things that we could have done better this weekend,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “What impressed me the most is that it really wasn’t even that close. We had some people really step it up for the team, and I’m proud of the way of the way our athletes competed each day of the track meet.”
The fourth-ranked men’s team, which entered the final day of the competition in fifth place, just missed winning an SEC title of its own as it finished a mere 6.5 points behind eventual champion Tennessee with a total of 122 points for the weekend.
It proved to be an exciting day for both teams as the Tigers and Lady Tigers combined for 209.5 points on Sunday as six athletes and one relay team won individual conference titles, while a total of 16 athletes and relay teams earned All-SEC accolades.
Sophomore Trindon Holliday stole the show as he broke former LSU great Xavier Carter’s school record in the 100-meter dash with the fastest wind-legal time in the NCAA and third-fastest time in the world this season at 10.08 seconds to clinch the first individual SEC title of his career.
Carter’s record was not even on the books for one full year as he became the first Tiger to win a national title in the 100 meters with a blistering time of 10.09 in the finals at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Sacramento, Calif., last June.
“It really means a lot to me to have his record,” Holliday said. “I couldn’t even sleep last night just thinking about this race. I just felt like I had to come out and make a name for myself in track after what I did here last year. Coach Shaver has been motivating me, and I knew I had to come out smart and run my race.”
Holliday said that Carter actually called to congratulate him on his performance in Saturday’s prelim after he qualified for the final with the fastest preliminary time at 10.14, while also giving him words of encouragement as he prepared to win his first career SEC championship.
“We talk all the time about racing each other in the 100,” Holliday said. “We really just joke around about it. He actually called me last night after I ran the prelim and told me to come out today and handle my business. I think I did that alright.”
Freshman middle distance standout Jamaal James followed in the very next race by winning an SEC title in the 800 meters with a new personal best time and the fourth-fastest time in school history at 1 minute, 47 seconds. James – already an indoor All-American in the event – is also the reigning SEC indoor champion in the 800-meter run.
Not to be outdone by her counterpart was freshman LaTavia Thomas, who captured the women’s 800-meter title with an impressive time of 2:05.07. LSU is sure to enjoy great success in the middle distances at the SEC meet for years to come as both James and Thomas are the reigning SEC indoor and outdoor champions in the 800 meters.
The Lady Tigers also swept hurdles titles as junior Jessica Ohanaja kicked off the afternoon by taking top honors in the 100-meter hurdles with an impressive time of 13.10, while sophomore Nickiesha Wilson added a title of her own in the 400 hurdles with a new personal best of 55.77.
In addition, junior Andrea Linton became the Lady Tigers’ first SEC champion in the triple jump since Nicole Toney in 2003 as she won her first career title and moved into the no. 4 spot on the school’s all-time list with a new personal best mark of 44 feet, 1 ¼ inches.
The meet concluded with the running of the men’s 4x400-meter relay where LSU’s foursome of Siraj Williams, Marvin Stevenson, Armanti Hayes and Melville Rogers successfully defended its conference crown in the event with the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season with nearly a one-second improvement on its seasonal best at 3:03.62.
“What else can you say about their performances this weekend,” Shaver said. “Those are just a few of the examples of our kids lining up confident that they’re going to win the race or hit a big jump or whatever. I was also proud of the guys on the relay for showing some pride and getting the job done when they were already eliminated from the team race.”
Senior Sherry Fletcher led a group of five other athletes and two relay teams who enjoyed all-conference performances on the final day of the competition. The native of St. David’s, Grenada, earned runner-up finishes in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes behind Auburn’s Kerron Stewart, clocking new personal bests of 11.26 and 22.87, respectively.
Reuben Twijukye and Tanya Osbourne assured LSU of 1-2 finishes in both 800-meter races by clocking seasonal best times of 1:47.11 and 2:05.64, respectively, as Twijukye’s time moves him into the No. 5 spot on the school’s all-time outdoor performance list behind James.
In addition, senior Siraj Williams clocked a new personal best time of 45.88 to finish second in the 400 meters, while fellow senior Isa Phillips took second place in one of the more exciting finishes of the evening with a seasonal best time of 49.54 in the 400-meter hurdles.
The Tigers finished runner-up to Tennessee in the men’s 4x100-meter relay as the foursome of Holliday, Will Coppage, Stevenson and Richard Thompson clocked a seasonal best time of 39.37. The Lady Tigers’ 4x400-meter relay squad of Cynetheia Rooks, Osbourne, Wilson and Deonna Lawrence also earned All-SEC honors with a second-place effort of 3:28.89.
“I’m certainly proud of the way our teams performed and competed this weekend,” Shaver said. “But they need to realize that this is just one piece of the puzzle and the first of three steps to get to where we want to go. We need to come back again in two weeks and compete just as well at the regional meet, and then two weeks after that at the NCAA meet.”
The Tigers and Lady Tigers will break for two weeks before returning to action at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in Columbia, Mo. The two-day meet is scheduled to take place from May 25-26 at Walton Stadium at the University of Missouri.