BATON ROUGE -- The action never stops for the LSU men’s and women’s track and field programs as they are sending three athletes to Fortaleza, Brazil, this weekend to compete at the 2007 Pan American Junior Championships beginning Friday.
The Tigers will be represented by freshman 800-meter standout Jamaal James of Trinidad and Tobago, while freshman sprinter Samantha Henry of Jamaica and freshman 800-meter runner LaTavia Thomas of the United States will line up for the Lady Tigers.
Thomas punched her ticket to this year’s championship after winning her second career U.S. Junior title in the 800 meters at the 2007 USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Indianapolis on June 22. The Philadelphia native is the only 800-meter runner from the United States in the field as she boasts a seasonal best of 2 minutes, 3.89 seconds.
Henry is set to double in the 100 and 200 meters in addition to running on Jamaica’s outstanding 4x100-meter relay team after capturing 100-meter and 200-meter titles in the Under-20 division at the Jamaican National Junior Championships in Kingston two weeks ago.
The Kingston native enjoyed a sensational freshman season with the Lady Tigers as she ran the second leg on the 4x100-meter relay team that finished national runner-up at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 8, while also running in the finals of the 200 the following day. Henry boasts seasonal bests and personal bests of 11.21 seconds in the 100 and 22.84 in the 200.
James, the reigning SEC indoor and outdoor champion at 800 meters, captured the junior 800-meter title at the Sagicor National Open Track and Field Championships on June 24 with a time of 1:47.85 in the final. He set a national junior record for Trinidad and Tobago on May 13 with a seasonal best time of 1:47.00 en route to winning the SEC Outdoor title.
Henry will kick things off for LSU as she lines up in semifinal of the 100-meter dash at 1:15 p.m. CDT on Friday followed by the final at 3:35 p.m. Thomas is set to run the semifinal of the 800 meters at 2:05 p.m., while James will follow with the semifinal on the men’s side at 2:30 p.m.