ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- Xavier Carter showed why he\'s ranked No. 1 in the country in the 200 meter dash. Carter automatically qualified for the NCAA finals in just his second race of the season as he blazed across the finish line in 20.74 seconds (20.76 altitude adjusted).
He is the first Tiger to automatically qualify for the finals this year.
\"He\'s just a great competitor; he doesn\'t like to get beat,\" said head coach Dennis Shaver. \"And as that rubs off on others, then we\'ve got a better team.\"
Carter also ran on the men\'s 4 x 400 relay team that provisionally qualified with a time of 3:08 in the last event of the day. The women\'s 4 x 400 relay team provisionally qualified right before the men\'s team with a time of 3:36 finishing up a very successful day for the Lady Tigers. Both teams won their event over a stiff field of competition.
The men\'s and women\'s teams took first, second or third place 14 times on the day in just 17 running events.
Sophomores Kelly Baptiste and Brooklynn Morris swept the women\'s 200 meter dash competition, both finishing with provisional marks and personal bests. Baptiste nipped Morris turning in a time of 23.41 to Morris\' 23.63.
That wasn\'t the duo\'s only success of the day. Earlier the Lady Tigers took second and third in the 60 meter dash, again with provisionally qualifying marks. Baptiste improved on her mark from last week trimming her time down to 7.34, overcoming a slow start out of the blocks. Morris again turned in a personal best with a dash of 7.38, right on Baptiste\'s heels.
Coach Shaver was proud of his teams\' performances.
\"I really think that if we can continue to make the same kind of progress in the next two weeks that we\'ve made in the last two weeks then we\'re going to develop to be a very good team overall,\" Coach Shaver said. \"I would say probably 50% of the kids set personal records in the track meet. I\'m really pleased with where we are right now.\"
Hurdler Jessica Ohanaja barely missed the automatic qualifying mark in the 60 meter low hurdles when she crossed the line today in 8.28, one tenth of a second off the mark. The sophomore finished in second today despite the quick improvement over last week\'s mark.
Sophomore All-American Deonna Lawrence was the latest Lady Tiger to provisionally qualify today when she crossed the 400 meter dash in 53.83. Lawrence is the 6th Lady Tiger to provisionally qualify for the NCAA indoor finals this year.
Freshman Jacob Simmons started the day out right for the men\'s team as he won the 5000 meter with a time of 15:34 (15:12 adjusted). Simmons lapped his competition and ended up winning by 55 seconds over the nearest competitor.
Senior All-American Kelly Willie started out his season on the right foot as he provisionally qualified in the 60 meters turning in a time of 6.67, a new personal best.
\"For him to line up in just a preliminary and to run a personal best kind of let\'s us know that he\'s in better sprint shape right now than he ever was last year,\" said Shaver. In the same event, first time competitor Trindon Holliday took fourth place with a time of 6.74, just two hundredths of a second off the provisional mark in his first race.
Both the men and women return to action next week in Baton Rouge. The teams will host the LSU Combined Events and the Bayou Bengal Invitational. The Combined Events will run from Jan. 26 to 27, while the Bayou Bengal Invitational will be held on Jan. 27.