LSU Athletes Advance on Day 1 of USATF Nationals

USATF Outdoor Championships

LSUsports.net Press Release

Jun 21, 2007

Courtesy: www.LSUsports.net

Release: 06/21/2007

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Courtesy: Bryan Wayne

LSU's LaTavia Thomas

INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Lady Tiger standout Stephanie Durst highlighted the first day of qualifying at the AT&T USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday with a lifetime best of 11.09 seconds in the first round of the women’s 100-meter dash.

Durst advanced to Friday’s semifinal round with the third-fastest time in the field, and she will be joined by former Lady Tiger teammate Muna Lee, who also advanced to the semifinal round with the sixth-fastest time of the evening at 11.10.

While competition in the 100-meter dash is scheduled to conclude late Friday evening, both Durst and Lee are also preparing to compete in the first round of qualifying of the 200 meters Saturday followed by the semifinal and final rounds of the event on Sunday.

LSU sophomore Trindon Holliday enjoyed similar success in the first round of qualifying in the men’s 100-meter dash as he also advanced to Friday’s semifinal with a wind-aided time of 10.03 for the second-fastest time of the day. In addition, former Tiger Derrick Brew is set to run in the semifinal of the 400 meters after qualifying Thursday with a time of 45.86.

The Lady Tigers were also well-represented at the USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday as incoming freshman Kenyanna Wilson of Peoria, Ariz., earned a fifth-place finish in the 100 and freshman LaTavia Thomas advanced to Friday’s final of the 800.

Wilson, who had been battling a slight hamstring injury leading up to the meet, followed her wind-aided time of 11.51 in the prelims with a 11.57 in the final to finish fifth in the event, while Thomas is the favorite to win the 800-meter title after clocking the fastest preliminary time of the afternoon at 2 minutes, 5.45 seconds.

Four current LSU standouts saw their hopes of earning a spot at this summer’s IAAF World Championships come to an end as sophomore Chad Radgowski finished 18th in the javelin, senior Cynetheia Rooks took 19th in the women’s 400, senior Siraj Williams placed 20th in the men’s 400 and senior Tanya Osbourne finished 22nd in the 800.

Fans across the country will have the opportunity to catch Friday’s action as ESPN2 will air the competition on a tape-delay basis from 7-8 p.m. CDT. The meet is also set for a live broadcast on the weekend as NBC will provide coverage Saturday from 1-2 p.m. and Sunday from 12-2 p.m.