Jumpers Post NCAA Auto Marks in New Mexico

 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Before arriving at the Albuquerque Convention Center to compete in Saturday's New Mexico Invitational, LSU head coach Dennis Shaver stressed the importance of his teams showing improvement and consistency with each competition as they prepare themselves for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships to be held March 12-13.

The Tigers and Lady Tigers certainly took a major step forward in achieving that goal while adding a pair of NCAA automatic qualifiers and four new NCAA provisional qualifiers during Saturday's events.

After the first two meets of the 2010 indoor season, LSU has racked up a total of four automatic qualifiers and 10 provisional qualifiers into the NCAA Indoor Championships.

"I thought we made some progress today, especially in our first competition of the year on a banked track. Now, we need to build on this experience as we prepare for the championship meets," Shaver said. "That is what I am looking for from both our teams each time we compete. We want to be more consistent each time out. That's what we will work toward when we head to New York next weekend."

Sophomore All-American Rachel Laurent did not record an NCAA automatic qualifying mark in the pole vault in 2009 until LSU's fourth meet of the season at the Tyson Invitational.

It only took two meets this season as Laurent went up and over the bar at 14 feet, 3 ¼ inches to move into the No. 2 spot on the NCAA performance list in 2010. She could have vaulted herself into the NCAA lead with a clearance at 14-5 ¼, but went out of the competition with the bar resting at that height.

Laurent will be competing for her second career All-America honor after finishing fifth in the event at the NCAA Indoor Championships as a freshman a year ago.

"I'm really excited about how I'm jumping this early in the season. I feel like I left a lot out there last year and didn't perform nearly as well as I should have," Laurent said. "That's given me a lot of motivation for myself this year. I knew coming into the meet today that eight girls have already qualified for the national meet, and I really wanted to add my name to that list. The competition will be fierce all year long."

Laurent was not the only Lady Tiger jumper to punch her ticket to Fayetteville, Ark., for the NCAA meet as junior All-American Brittani Carter set a new overall personal best of her own to take runner-up honors in the high jump. Carter cleared the bar at 6-0 ¾ to finish the day ranked No. 4 in the NCAA.

Carter set her previous personal best of 6-0 in a third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships as a sophomore in 2009, becoming LSU's first All-American high jumper since 1994.

"I felt really good today, but I want more. I've got so much left in me," Carter said. "I just feel so much stronger this year than I did last year. What I accomplished last season gave me the confidence in myself that I can compete against anyone in the country, but my confidence is at an all-time high right now. I just feel really good about where I am this early in the season. It's a great way to start the season."

The Lady Tigers also added three NCAA provisional qualifiers during Saturday's action led by Kenyanna Wilson's victory in the 60-meter dash while clocking an altitude-adjusted time of 7.38 seconds in the final heat. Senior All-American LaTavia Thomas qualified with a time of 54.35 in the 400 meters, while juniorMelissa Ogbourne qualified with an indoor personal-best mark of 41-8 ½ in the triple jump.

The Tigers were again outstanding in the throws as sophomore All-American Walter Henning and fellow sophomore Michael Lauro set personal bests in sweeping first and second place in the weight throw.

After leading the competition from the start, Henning set a new personal record on his fifth attempt of the afternoon while throwing the 35-pound implement a distance of 75-8. Henning's performance ranks No. 1 in the NCAA this season and is nearly a 15-inch improvement from his previous PR of 74-5 ½ set in 2009 when he captured the weight throw title at the SEC Indoor Championships.

Lauro, who opened the season Jan. 22 with an NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 65-5 ½ at the Purple Tiger Invitational, established a new personal best of his own with a throw of 67-1 ¾ on his final attempt to improve his standing on the national descending order list.

After recording a new overall PR in the long jump last week with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 26-3, junior Zedric Thomas set a new indoor PR in the triple jump on Saturday with an provisional mark of 52-2 ¾ to take second place in the event.

In addition to LSU's athletes who earned qualification into the NCAA meet, eight others recorded PRs on the afternoon, including four Tigers and four Lady Tigers.

Redshirt freshman Laura Carleton won the women's mile title with an altitude-adjusted time of 5 minutes, 1.07 seconds. Sophomores Cassandra Tate (23.96) and Brieanna Kennedy (57-11) finished runner-up in the 200 meters and weight throw, respectively, while junior Liann Kellman placed sixth in the final of the 60-meter dash with an adjusted time of 7.54 seconds.

Among the Tigers setting new personal bests on Saturday include junior Alan Sticker with a personal-best time of 1:53.36 in the 800 meters, sophomore Richard Chautin with a time of 8:48.72 in the 3,000 meters and freshmen Joseph Caraway and Thomas Reinecke with clearances of 16-6 ¾ in the pole vault.

LSU will head back on the road next weekend as the Tigers and Lady Tigers make their annual trip to the Big Apple in New York to compete in the New Balance Collegiate Invitational on Feb. 5-6.