BATON ROUGE -- The LSU track and field teams continue to rack up the weekly awards handed out by the Southeastern Conference as seniors Richard Thompson and Kelly Baptiste swept SEC Male and Female Runner of the Week honors on Tuesday.
This marks the fourth straight week and the sixth time this season that an LSU athlete has been honored by the league office for their outstanding performance on the track or in the field.
Thompson has received the SEC Male Runner of the Week award for the second time this season following a record-setting performance in leading the Tigers to a runner-up finish at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational in New York this past weekend.
Thompson blew away an elite field in the finals of the 60-meter dash to win the event title Friday as he shattered his own school record for the second time this season with a blistering time of 6.57 seconds. The native of Cascade, Trinidad, became the first man in school history to break the 6.60 barrier as he nipped teammate and fellow All-American Trindon Holliday (6.61) at the tape.
Thompson has only run in two 60-meter competitions in 2008 as he also set the school record in the event with a winning time of 6.62 at the Razorback Invitational two weeks ago.
In addition to Holliday, Thompson beat four other All-American sprinters to the finish line, including Oklahoma’s Marcus Pugh (6.64), Tennessee’s Rubin Williams (6.69), Florida State’s Michael Ray Garvin (6.72) and Tennessee’s Evander Wells (6.74). His effort is the fastest time in the NCAA, the fastest time on American soil and the sixth-fastest time in the world this season.
Baptiste enjoyed a record-setting weekend of her own as was named the Female Athlete of the Meet after leading the top-ranked Lady Tigers to their fifth team title all-time at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational and first since the 2005 season.
Baptiste clocked the fastest time in the NCAA and the fourth-fastest time in the world this season with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 7.17 to edge teammate and fellow All-American Samantha Henry (7.18) at the finish line for the win in a competitive final.
Her time was also a meet record for the New Balance Collegiate Invitational as she broke the old mark of 7.19 set by Tahesia Harrigan of Alabama in 2006.
Baptiste also beat such All-Americans as Tulane’s Gloria Asumnu (7.25), Texas A&M’s Simone Facey (7.29) and LSU’s Juanita Broaddus (7.35) for the 60-meter title. In addition to her performance in the 60-meter dash, Baptiste was the meet runner-up in the 200-meter competition as she clocked an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 23.46 in the final.
Thompson, Baptiste and the rest of the LSU track and field teams will be back in action this weekend as they travel to the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., for the second time this season to compete in the prestigious Tyson Invitational beginning Friday.
LSU’s SEC Weekly Award Winners
SEC Male Runner of the Week
Richard Thompson, Jan. 30
Richard Thompson, Feb. 12
SEC Female Runner of the Week
Samantha Henry, Jan. 23
Samantha Henry, Jan. 30
Kelly Baptiste, Feb. 12
SEC Female Field Event Athlete of the Week
Katelyn Rodrigue, Feb. 5