FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - The Lady Tigers saved the best for last during Friday's opening day of competition at the 2012 Razorback Invitational as defending NCAA Indoor champion Kimberlyn Duncan and Rebecca Alexandersprinted to the two fastest times in the NCAA this season in the 200-meter dash at the Randal Tyson Track Center at the University of Arkansas.
Duncan lined up in Lane 4 to the inside of international sprint star Sanya Richards-Ross of Nike in Lane 5 and Alexander in Lane 6 in the first of 10 sections of the women's championship final.
When the gun fired, the trio ran stride-for-stride through the first 100 meters of the race with both Duncan and Richards-Ross pulling ahead around the final turn and down the homestretch. While Richards-Ross pulled out the victory with a world-leading time of 23.18 seconds, Duncan finished runner-up with the top time in the NCAA this season at 23.25 and Alexander followed in third place with the No. 2-ranked effort at the collegiate level for 2012 with her season-opening time of 23.49.
Alexander actually finished in fourth place overall in the 200-meter final after former Baylor standout and current Adidas sprinter Tiffany Townsend clocked 23.45 to earn the victory in the sixth section.
After opening the defense of her NCAA title with a season-opening time of 23.29 in a win last weekend at the LSU vs. Texas A&M Dual Meet in College Station, Duncan dropped her national lead to 23.25 during Friday's competition as she is already ahead of her championship pace from a season ago. She opened her sophomore season with times of 23.56 at Texas A&M and 23.31 at the Razorback Invitational.
"I'm really looking at where I'm at this year compared to last year in how I run, and focusing on what it is I need to do to get better," Duncan said. "It gets me closer to nationals running in a competitive race like I had tonight. It gets me ready physically to run the race and mentally to face that kind of competition."
Alexander has also been impressive to open her senior season as she owns the NCAA's No. 2-ranked time in the 200 meters at 23.49 and the NCAA's No. 3-ranked time in the 400 meters at 53.63 for 2012.
"I knew I was going to have to get out fast since I couldn't see them running outside," Alexander said. "It was a great race and a great opener for me in the 200. I think it was good for me running against that kind of competition. It really pushed me to get out and get around that second curve."
The Tigers and Lady Tigers were also impressive in qualifying for the 60-meter dash as Duncan also led a group of five athletes advancing to Saturday's semifinals in the short sprint.
Duncan cruised to a victory in the second of four qualifying heats in the women's 60 meters with a season best of 7.42 that proved to be the second-fastest time in the preliminary round. The Lady Tigers finished a perfect 3-for-3 in 60-meter qualifying as junior Takeia Pinckney ran the sixth-fastest time of the afternoon at 7.50 and sophomore Toshika Sylvester ran the eighth-fastest time in qualifying at 7.61 to advance.
Senior Keyth Talley was the fastest Tiger in qualifying for the men's 60-meter dash after taking second in his heat with the fifth-fastest time of the day at 6.79. Talley will be joined in Saturday's semifinals by true freshman Trevor Sansone, who qualified with a time of 6.88 for 13th place overall.
Junior All-American Damar Forbes led the way in the field events with an impressive performance taking second place in the men's long jump after leaping 26 feet, 0 ¼ inches on his sixth and final attempt.
The 2011 NCAA Outdoor runner-up moved into second place after posting back-to-back marks of 25-6 in the third round and 25-11 in the fourth round of jumps, before landing 26-0 ¼ from the board for his final effort en route to a second-place finish. Texas junior Marquis Goodwin jumped 26-7 for the victory, while Mychael Stewart (25-10) placed third and LSU senior Kyron Blaise (24-9 ¾) placed fourth in the event.
The Tigers also made their presence felt in the men's pole vault competition while placing three in the top five of the final event standings with senior Marcus McGehee, junior Thomas Reinecke and freshman Andreas Duplantis each clearing the bar at a height of 16-10 ¾. Reinecke finished in second place overall, followed by Duplantis in a tie for third place and McGehee in fifth place based on total fouls.
Sophomore Lynnika Pitts continued her impressive early-season form in a third-place finish overall in the women's high jump as she cleared the bar at 5-9 ¾ to set a new lifetime personal record.
Pitts, who kicked off the 2012 indoor season by clearing her previous lifetime PR of 5-8 ¾ at the Crimson Tide Indoor Opener on Jan. 14, raised the bar by one inch on Friday afternoon to match the No. 10-ranked mark by a Lady Tiger on LSU's all-time indoor performance list in the event.
Pitts was only eclipsed by event champion Brigetta Barrett of Arizona with the No.-2 ranked performance all-time indoors at the collegiate level at 6-5 ½. While matching the effort of Oklahoma's Kristen Price at 5-9 ¾, Price was awarded runner-up honors to Barrett with fewer misses for the competition.
Friday also witnessed the collegiate debut of Lady Tiger freshman Alex Gochenour in the pentathlon. The former U.S. Junior heptathlon champion made her first ever appearance in the indoor pentathlon Friday as she scored a total of 3,679 points to secure a sixth-place finish in the competition.
While making her indoor debut in the multis, Gochenour established indoor PRs of 8.84 in the 60 hurdles (944 points), 5-2 ¼ in the high jump (712 points), 36-1 ¼ in the shot put (595 points), 18-1 ½ in the long jump (706 points) and 2 minutes, 27.73 seconds in the 800-meter run (722 points) en route to her opening sixth-place finish. Arkansas junior Makeba Alcide scored 3,997 points to win the pentathlon crown.
Two Tigers also set new indoor PRs in the men's 200-meter dash on Friday as freshman Aaron Ernest ran 21.47 for seventh place and sophomore Shermund Allsop ran 21.77 for 16th place in the event.
The action continues at the 2012 Razorback Invitational on Saturday at 11 a.m. CT. LSU Track & Field fans with a premium subscription to the Geaux Zone can see the Tigers and Lady Tigers in action through the Geaux Zone Live link at www.lsusports.net/live. Live results of the final day of competition is also set to be provided by Flash Results and can be found online at www.flashresults.com.