Jones Wins Gold at USA Outdoors

DES MOINES, Iowa - Saturday's competition at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships proved to be a homecoming to remember for LSU great and Des Moines native Lolo Jones as she cruised to victory in the final of the women's 100-meter hurdles to win her second career gold medal in the event.

After clocking the fastest time in Friday's preliminary round at 12.82 seconds, Jones won her semifinal in 12.95 on Saturday afternoon before returning to the track and blowing away the rest of a world-class field in the final with a time of 12.69 run into a strong headwind of 2.1 meters per second.

Kellie Wells finished in a distant second place to Jones with a time of 12.84 to win the silver medal, while Damu Cherry took home the bronze with a third-place finish in 12.86.

"I felt pressure to perform well here," Jones said. "Anytime you get a medal, anytime you win, it's great. But the fact that it was on my hometown (track), in my backyard, and I was able to handle the stress of all that, I'm really proud of what I accomplished here today."

Jones continues to shine as the world's preeminent sprint hurdler as her seasonal-best time of 12.55 in the 100 hurdles ranks No. 1 worldwide in 2010. During the indoor season, Jones captured her second-straight World Indoor Championships gold medal in the 60-meter hurdles in record-setting fashion after becoming the new American record holder with a winning time of 7.72.

She is now a two-time USA Outdoor Champion in the 100-meter hurdles as she also took the title just two years ago at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.

Saturday was also a successful day of qualifying for LSU's athletes at the USA Championships, led by an impressive performance by sophomore All-American Barrett Nugent in the men's 110-meter hurdles. The NCAA Outdoor runner-up qualified with the sixth-fastest time of the preliminary round at 13.61.

Former Tiger hurdler Ryan Fontenot will join Nugent in Sunday's semifinal round of the sprint hurdles as he grabbed the 16th and final qualifying spot with a time of 13.83. Former LSU star Xavier Carter also got a spot in Sunday's semifinal final action after clocking 20.68 in the 200-meter prelim on Saturday.