AUSTIN, Texas -- The final race of the 82nd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays was a memorable one for the Lady Tigers as they crushed their previous seasonal best to successfully defend their title in the university 4x400-meter relay on Saturday afternoon at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
LSU, which had not run faster than 3 minutes, 36.06 seconds either indoor or outdoor in 2009, set a new overall seasonal best of 3:31.81 to finish the race ranked No. 1 in the NCAA this season. The Lady Tigers, running with a foursome of sophomoreBrittany Hall, freshman Cassandra Tate, senior Kayann Thompson and junior LaTavia Thomas, finished the race nearly one second ahead of fan favorite Texas (3:32.57) as 20,055 fans packed the stands for the final day of the meet. For the Lady Tigers, it was their third relay title of the weekend after opening the meet with a win in the 4x800-meter relay on Thursday night followed by an easy victory in the sprint medley relay on Friday night. This marks the fifth time in program history that the LSU women have won the 4x400 at the Texas Relays and the second in a row after taking the prestigious title a year ago. LSU has now won a total of 59 relay titles all-time at the Texas Relays between the two teams as the Lady Tigers now own 33 titles, while the Tigers have won 26 relay crowns of their own. “There’s no doubt in my mind after watching that race that our women showed tremendous heart all the way through the finish,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “I doubt anybody who has seen us run all season long would have expected our women to do what they just did this kind of a meet against this kind of a field. I’m very proud of what they accomplished today. “They should also be very proud of themselves. They’ve had this kind of a race in them all season and just never quite put it together. This kind of win should give them a lot of confidence.” The LSU women nearly picked up a fourth relay title on the weekend when they finished runner-up to Florida State (43.62) in the final of the 4x100-meter relay as Kristina Davis, Tate, Samantha Henry and Kenyanna Wilson carried the stick around the track in 43.99. As the name might suggest, the final day of the 82nd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays was a fast one for LSU as the Tigers also ran in the final of both the 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays. The Tigers set a pair of seasonal bests on the day as they kicked off the festivities by placing third in the Clyde Littlefield 4x100-Meter Relay with a time of 39.10 before wrapping up the day with a time of 3:05.97 in the final of the Cleburne Price, Jr. 4x400-Meter Relay. The LSU men, who entered the meet as the five-time defending champion of the Clyde Littlefield 4x100-Meter Relay, were unable to push their streak to six as the squad of senior Jeremy Hicks, junior Will Coppage, freshman Gabriel Mvumvure and senior Trindon Holliday teamed for a third-place finish after crossing the finish line with the No. 3 time in the NCAA this year at 39.10. Despite losing their first Texas Relays 4x100 title since 2003, LSU’s run of five-straight victories is a meet record as no other program has won more than four-straight titles in the event. The Tigers then finished runner-up in the Cleburne Price, Jr. 4x400-Meter Relay with a seasonal-best time of 3:05.97 in the final race of the weekend. Running with a foursome of junior Jamar Howard, junior Armanti Hayes, freshman Ade Alleyne-Forte and freshmanRobert Simmons, the Tigers finished behind only the defending NCAA champions from Baylor (3:02.68). The Tigers had not run faster than 3:07.29 indoors or outdoors prior to Saturday’s final in the 4x400-meter relay. Holliday could not have picked a better day to run his first 100-meter race of the 2009 season as he clocked the NCAA’s fastest time this season with a wind-legal 10.12 seconds to finish second in the men’s invitational 100-meter dash on a sun-splashed afternoon at Mike A. Myers Stadium. With an NCAA Championship environment on hand, Holliday finished runner-up in the event by the slimmest of margins as Rae Edwards of Hobson’s Choice won the race in 10.10. Holliday also just missed becoming the second LSU athlete in a row to win the men’s invitational 100-meter dash at the Texas Relays as former Tiger Richard Thompson took the event title with a then school-record and world-leading time of 10.00 in his outdoor debut in 2008. “It was alright. I definitely felt like it could have been better,” Holliday said following the race. “I slipped in the blocks at the start of the race and just tried to maintain what I had through the finish line. All in all, it was a good race. I still have a lot to work on, but I feel like this is a good start to the season for me. I’ve just got to get back to work and get better from here.” Holliday opens the season as one of the favorites to win the 100-meter title at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June as he is the top returning finisher from the NCAA final a year ago when he finished in third place behind Thompson and Travis Padgett of Clemson. He is fresh off a 2009 indoor season in which he was the NCAA runner-up in the 60-meter race at the NCAA Indoor Championships for the second year in a row. “He’s worked very hard at trying to become a better mechanical sprinter,” Shaver said. “The thing about Trindon is that he is a very good communicator and, as a result, is very easy for me to coach. He did a good job today for his first time out. The conditions we’ve had here this weekend are good for running fast times, and he certainly took advantage of that.” All-American pole vaulter Rachel Laurent continued to make history during her freshman season as she broke juniorKatelyn Rodrigue’s school record to become the first Lady Tiger in the storied history of the Texas Relays to win the women’s university pole vault title. Laurent, who qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regional with a season-opening mark of 12 feet, 7 ½ inches at the LSU Tiger Relays last weekend, went up and over the bar at 14-1 ¼ on her first attempt to seal the victory and become the No. 1 pole vaulter in the NCAA this season. Not only that, but Laurent eclipsed Rodrigue’s school record of 13-7 ½ as she now holds both the top indoor (14-0 ½) and outdoor (14-1 ¼) marks all-time at LSU. Rodrigue also enjoyed an outstanding performance on Saturday afternoon as she finished third for the competition with a seasonal-best NCAA regional clearance of 13-5 ¼ to tie for No. 4 in the nation this season. Laurent and Rodrigue give LSU a pair of All-America contenders this outdoor season as they form one of the elite pole vaulting duos in the NCAA in 2009. The Lady Tigers were not done in the field as senior standout Anna Lyons shattered her previous personal best in the javelin by more than two feet with a throw of 160-11 to take sixth in the event this year. Her mark also ranks No. 11 on the NCAA performance list to this point of the season. “That is the exactly what it means to be a true track and field team,” Shaver said. “We strive to be a competitive program across all event areas, and our athletes, particularly the women, stepped it up big time in the field events. That was a tremendous performance by Rachel to set a new PR for a school record. Anna was also very impressive today in the javelin. “That is something we will count on as we head into the championship meets. We’ve started to be more consistent in those event areas this season, which is what we must have to be competitive.” Holliday was not the only LSU sprinter to blister the Mike A. Myers Stadium track with seasonal best times on the afternoon as three Lady Tigers also burned up the straightaway. Henry and Wilson took their marks in the final heat of the women’s university 100-meter dash and raced to the finish line with seasonal bests. Henry posted a wind-legal time of 11.19 to finish in third place and rank No. 3 in the NCAA this season, while Wilson followed in fifth place with a new personal best time of 11.31 to rank as one of the top performers in the NCAA this season. Not only that, but sophomore Tenaya Jones shattered her previous personal best of 13.50 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles with a wind-legal time of 13.28 in Saturday’s final to finish third overall and finish the final of the women’s university section ranked No. 5 in the NCAA this season. Sophomore Zedric Thomas was LSU’s lone new NCAA regional qualifier on the meet’s final day as he recorded a wind-aided jump of 50-6 to place eighth in the event. Freshman Barrett Nugent improved his NCAA regional qualifying performance in the 110-meter hurdles with a fifth-place wind-aided effort of 13.84, while senior Patrick Lee clocked a seasonal-best regional qualifying time of 51.57 to place fifth in the 400-meter hurdles. With three weeks of the 2009 outdoor season now in the books, LSU has qualified an impressive total of 25 individuals and four relays into the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships set to run May 29-30 at Cardinal Park Stadium at the University of Louisville. With LSU set to close next week for Spring Break, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will travel straight to Tempe, Ariz., on Sunday where they will spend the week preparing to compete in the Sun Angel Classic at Sun Angel Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University. The meet will go off on Friday, April 10, before wrapping up on Saturday, April 11. LSU’s Qualifiers for the 2009 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships (as of April 4) MEN Name, Event, Mark/Time WOMEN
Chris Bless, Hammer Throw, 189-4
Mark DeBlanc, Javelin, 216-4
Rabun Fox, Hammer Throw, 196-9
Reggie Haslom, Triple Jump, 49-5 ½
Walter Henning, Hammer Throw, 208-7
Jeremy Hicks, Long Jump, 26-1 ½
Trindon Holliday, 100 meters, 10.12
Michael Lauro, Hammer Throw, 203-1
Patrick Lee, 400 hurdles, 51.57
Marcus McGehee, Pole Vault, 16-6 ¾
Barrett Nugent, 110 hurdles, 13.84w
Gabriel Mvumvure, 100 meters, 10.42w
Gabriel Mvumvure, 200 meters, 21.15
Zedric Thomas, Long Jump, 24-9 ¾
Zedric Thomas, Triple Jump, 50-6w
Hicks, Coppage, Mvumvure, Holliday; 4x100 Relay; 39.10
Howard, Hayes, Alleyne-Forte, Simmons; 4x400 Relay; 3:05.97
Name, Event, Mark/Time
Brittani Carter, High Jump, 6-0
Samantha Henry, 100 meters, 11.19
Tenaya Jones, 100 hurdles, 13.28
Brieanna Kennedy, Javelin, 151-6
Rachel Laurent, Pole Vault, 14-1 ¼
Anna Lyons, Javelin, 160-11
Katelyn Rodrigue, Pole Vault, 13-5 ¼
Cassandra Tate, 200 meters, 23.96
Kim Williams, Hammer Throw, 189-0
Kenyanna Wilson, 100 meters, 11.31
Davis, Tate, Henry, Wilson; 4x100 Relay; 43.84
Hall, Tate, Thompson, Thomas; 4x400 Relay; 3:31.81
AUSTIN, Texas -- The final race of the 82nd Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays was a memorable one for the Lady Tigers as they crushed their previous seasonal best to successfully defend their title in the university 4x400-meter relay on Saturday afternoon at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
LSU, which had not run faster than 3 minutes, 36.06 seconds either indoor or outdoor in 2009, set a new overall seasonal best of 3:31.81 to finish the race ranked No. 1 in the NCAA this season. The Lady Tigers, running with a foursome of sophomoreBrittany Hall, freshman Cassandra Tate, senior Kayann Thompson and junior LaTavia Thomas, finished the race nearly one second ahead of fan favorite Texas (3:32.57) as 20,055 fans packed the stands for the final day of the meet.