DAY 2 FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Lady Tiger sophomore and All-America hopeful Kimberlyn Duncan wasted little time in punching her ticket to the NCAA Indoor Championships during Saturday's finale at the 2011 Tyson Invitational as she cruised to a new lifetime personal best of 23.01 seconds to capture the women's 200-meter dash title in the day's first event on the track. After Oklahoma's Candyce McGrone opened up the 200-meter dash by winning the first section in 23.01, Duncan followed by winning the fourth section with a matching time of 23.01 as the competitors could only wait for the final results before this year's Tyson Invitational 200-meter champion was crowned. With their times needing to be calculated to the thousandths, Duncan's official time of 23.004 bested that of 23.005 by McGrone by the slimmest of margins as the Lady Tiger sophomore took the event title. Duncan even dominated her section on Saturday afternoon as Janelle Redhead of South Plains followed in second place in the heat at 23.75 and Auburn All-American Joanna Atkins took third place at 23.80. "I really was expecting my time to come down in this meet," Duncan said. "I was nervous coming in here, but I talked to my mom and dad before the race and they helped calm me down and get my mind focused. They just told me to go out there and do what I know how to do and do the best I can. They said to rely on my talent and what I have learned in my training with Coach (Dennis) Shaver and that I would run well. "It's just such a different game indoors. You have to think more. You have to make sure to run each curve and each bank and execute the race more. It's all about keeping your speed up there, turning it over and finishing strong. Outdoors, it's just all about running the curve and executing the straightaway." Duncan, who entered Saturday's competition with a previous lifetime best of 23.08 set during the outdoor season in 2010 at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds, now ranks in a tie for the No. 4 spot on the NCAA performance list for the 2011 indoor campaign and in a tie for the No. 8 position on LSU's all-time indoor performance list as an NCAA automatic qualifier in the women's 200-meter dash. A sophomore from Katy, Texas, Duncan has seen steady improvement in her performances so far through the 2011 indoor season as she has set indoor personal records of 7.40, 7.38, 7.32 and 7.30 in the 60 meters and 23.31 and 23.01 in the 200 meters as she now prepares for the NCAA Indoor Championships. "I want to get it done," Duncan said. "I am always working to get better. I think I'm more mature in how I go about training and different things this year. That has really helped me improve a lot this season." The Tigers and Lady Tigers have now qualified nine entries into the 2011 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships that are scheduled to run March 11-12 in College Station, Texas. Duncan has joined three other Lady Tigers to qualify as junior Semoy Hackett in the 60 meters (7.24) and 200 meters (22.98), senior Brittani Carter in the high jump (6-1 ½) and freshman Jasmin Stowers in the 60-meter hurdles (8.13) have all secured a spot in the field. The Tigers are led by four NCAA qualifiers in senior Walter Henning in the weight throw (72-7), senior Zedric Thomas (26-6 ¼) and sophomore Damar Forbes (26-3) in the long jump and junior Kyron Blaise in the triple jump (53-4 ½). LSU's 4x400-meter relay teams took one step closer to qualifying for the NCAA Championships after the Tigers and Lady Tigers wrapped up the meet with impressive performances in the meet's finale. The Lady Tigers were the first to step onto the track as the team of junior Rebecca Alexander, sophomoreLatoya McDermott, senior Brittany Hall and junior Jonique Day captured the Tyson Invitational women's 4x400-meter relay championship with a seasonal-best time of 3 minutes, 34.54 seconds. Alexander put the Lady Tigers in great position to take the title with a blistering 52.96-second split on the leadoff leg. McDermott (53.92) and Hall (54.97) kept the Lady Tigers in front before Day clinched LSU's victory with a brilliant 52.70-second split on the anchor leg en route to the No. 4-ranked performance this season, trailing only Texas A&M (3:30.70), Arkansas (3:32.48) and Texas (3:34.12) in the mile relay. The Tigers were just as impressive in a runner-up finish in the men's championship 4x400 relay Saturday, while the team of junior Keyth Talley, junior Horatio Williams, junior Riker Hylton and sophomore Caleb Williams recorded the NCAA's second-fastest time this season at 3:06.56. Talley opened with a split of 47.33 before giving way to Williams with a 46.74-second split on the second leg and Hylton with a 46.83-second split on the third leg. Caleb Williams then anchored with a big split of 45.66 while finishing runner-up to the foursome from South Plains College (3:05.14). "This is the time of the season where we expect to get just a little bit better and improve each time that we go out and compete. We certainly did that today," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. "I thought both of our relay teams did a great job of competing today. It wasn't just all about time. You could really see both teams get out there and compete through the race. That's what you like to see as a coach. "It's also important for us because the next time we really get to line it up and compete will be in a couple of weeks when we come back here to Fayetteville for the SEC Championships." Two other LSU athletes also enjoyed personal-best performances on the final day of competition Saturday at the Tyson Invitational as junior Tim Landry set a new 16-second personal best in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:37.61 and freshman Lynnika Pitts set a new indoor PR of 5-8 in the high jump. The Tigers and Lady Tigers will have one final opportunity to prepare for the championship season next weekend as they return home to play host to the LSU Twilight to be held Feb. 18 at the Carl Maddox Field House. The teams will then return to the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., again this season in two weeks for the 2011 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships scheduled for Feb. 25-27.
Day 1
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - While competing against an NCAA Championships caliber field during Friday's invitational long jump at the Tyson Invitational, LSU'sZedric Thomas soared to a lifetime PR of 26 feet, 6 ¼ inches on his second attempt to capture the event crown and solidify his position as a national championship contender in his senior campaign.
Thomas, who entered the meet with a previous personal best of 26-3 ¾ set earlier this season at the Purple Tiger Invitational, improved upon his No. 2-ranked performance in the NCAA and pulled to within two inches of the nation's leading mark of 26-8 ½ currently held by Texas standout Marquise Goodwin. But Thomas' victory on Friday night did not come easy as this year's Tyson Invitational men's long jump featured such All-Americans as former NCAA Outdoor champion Ngonidzashe Makusha of Florida State in addition to Tarik Batchelor of Arkansas and both Will Claye and Christian Taylor of Florida. Makusha finished runner-up to Thomas with a top mark of 26-5 set on his fifth jump, while Batchelor and Claye finished in third place and fourth place, respectively, with matching jumps of 26-1. LSU teammate Damar Forbes followed in fifth place overall with a mark of 25-6 ¼ on his third attempt of the preliminary round, while Taylor followed well back in 10th place at 24-11 ¼ for the competition. "What a tremendous performance for Zedric to come here and PR on his second jump. There is a guy who is beginning to show the kind of consistency needed to perform at the championship meets," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. "And to do it against that kind of field is what's most impressive to me. Those are the same guys who we'll see again at the SEC and NCAA meets in the coming weeks." The Tigers and Lady Tigers also competed in the finals of both the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles in Friday's action as junior Barrett Nugent led the way with a runner-up finish in the men's hurdles. After qualifying for the finals with consecutive times of 7.76 seconds in the preliminary round and 7.82 in the semifinal round, Nugent crossed the finish line in the final in second place with a seasonal-best time at 7.73 for the No. 5-ranked performance in the NCAA. Andrew Riley of Illinois took the title in 7.71. In the final of the women's hurdles, freshman Jasmin Stowers finished in fourth place with a time of 8.27, while senior Tenaya Jones finished in seventh place with a time of 8.38. The Tigers and Lady Tigers were also represented with one finalist apiece in the 60-meter dash as junior Horatio Williams (6.64) picked up a fourth-place finish in the men's final race and sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan (7.38) earned a fifth-place finish in the women's final to wrap up Friday's competition. One LSU Tiger All-American who saw his first action of the 2011 indoor season on Friday afternoon was sophomore Caleb Williams, who opened his campaign with an impressive run in the 400-meter dash. While running in the 14th of 23 sections, Williams raced out to an early lead and never looked back with a victory in his heat as he finished the two-lap race in fifth place overall with a time of 46.65. With his performance, Williams wrapped up the first day of competition at the Tyson Invitational ranked No. 12 in the NCAA this season as LSU's top performer in the 400-meter dash. In addition, three other LSU athletes set personal bests in the 400 meters as junior Jonique Day recorded a new lifetime PR of 54.14 and sophomore Latoya McDermott set a new indoor PR of 54.94 for the women and freshman Keith Griffith set a new lifetime PR of his own at 47.89 for the men. Lady Tiger distance runner Laura Carleton also enjoyed one of LSU's all-time great performances for the women's mile after establishing a new personal best with the No. 7-ranked performance on LSU's all-time indoor list at 4 minutes, 56.17 seconds to earn a third-place finish in Friday's college section. Sophomore Dakota Goodman also set a new personal record in the college section of the mile after taking eighth place overall behind Carleton with a top time of 5:01.79. Saturday's action at the 2011 Tyson Invitational is scheduled to begin for LSU at noon in the field events followed by the first events on the track at 1 p.m. CT. Fans are reminded that live results for the Tyson Invitational are available online at www.flashresults.com. Live updates for the Tigers and Lady Tigers are also available as a fan of LSU Track & Field on Facebook and by following @LSUTrackField on Twitter