FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - NCAA qualifying performances by junior Charlene Lipsey in the 800-meter run and the men's 4x400-meter relay team and a school-record setting effort by sophomore Denise Hinton in the weight throw helped set the stage for an exciting conclusion for the LSU Track & Field teams while competing in Saturday's finale at this year's Razorback Invitational.
It led to a furious finish by the Tigers and Lady Tigers as the teams captured five event titles and posted a combined six NCAA Top 10 performances in Saturday's action at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
"We got a lot better as a team today," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. "The focus of our athletes in a meet like this is more on performance, but I was very pleased in the way they seemed to approach it like a championship meet this weekend. This was a big step forward for us as we press on this season."
While making her 2012 debut in the 800-meter run, Lipsey became LSU's first NCAA automatic qualifier of the season with an indoor personal record and the No. 1-ranked performance in the NCAA in her event as she won invitational race with a time of 2 minutes, 3.79 seconds.
Lipsey found herself locked in a battle for the championship when Arkansas junior Stephanie Brown took the lead heading into the bell lap. While biding her time down the backstretch, Lipsey made her move around the final turn and sprinted past Brown with just 50 meters to go and held on for the victory with an impressive season-opening run of 2:03.79. Brown finished runner-up to Lipsey in 2:03.93.
After entering the meet with an indoor PR of 2:04.55 that she set during the 2011 season, Lipsey emerged as the No. 3-ranked 800-meter runner indoors in program history with her national-leading 2:03.79.
A native of Hempstead, N.Y., Lipsey has continued the momentum from her sophomore season when she emerged as one of the NCAA's elite 800-meter runners with her fourth-place finish nationally at the 2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
"I think NCAAs last year gave me the confidence I was lacking for most of the season," Lipsey said. "It's one of those things where Coach (Mark) Elliott has always believed in me, but I'm someone who likes to see it to really believe it. After having some success at the end of last season, I really wanted to work even harder in my training to carry that over to the start of this season. With the way I've run my miles over the last two weeks, I knew I was ready to run 2:04 or better in my first 800."
Hinton became the first LSU Track & Field athlete to set a school record in 2012 after finishing runner-up in the 20-pound weight throw while establishing a new PR in the event for the third-straight week.
With her fifth throw of the competition held at Walker Pavilion, Hinton unleashed a throw of 66 feet, 1 ½ inches with the 20-pound implement to shatter former Lady Tiger Mallory McDonald's 9-year-old school record of 65-2 ¾ from the 2003 season and move into the Top 10 of the NCAA rankings for 2012.
Hinton, who entered this year's Razorback Invitational as the No. 22-ranked performer in the NCAA with a seasonal-best throw of 63-2, vaulted into the No. 10 position nationally with her effort.
A sophomore from Peachtree City, Ga., Hinton has quickly established herself as an All-America threat in 2012 while setting personal records in each of her three meets this season. After opening the campaign on Jan. 14 with a mark of 58-7 ½ at the Crimson Tide Indoor Opener, Hinton has raised the bar in each of the last two weeks with subsequent PRs of 63-2 at the LSU vs. Texas A&M Dual Meet on Jan. 21 and 66-1 ½ at the Razorback Invitational during Saturday's action in Fayetteville.
Hinton was not the only Lady Tiger to set a PR in the women's weight throw as senior Brieanna Kennedyshattered her previous best by nearly three feet with a top throw of 61-2 ¾ to move into the No. 3 position on LSU's all-time indoor performance list in the event behind only Hinton and McDonald.
Baylor sophomore Erin Atkins edged Hinton for the Razorback Invitational weight throw title as the Bear standout posted the NCAA's No. 9-ranked mark this season at 67-6 ¾ for the win.
"I try to get after it every week. I have a better understanding now of what I need to do to improve myself week-to-week," Hinton said of her performance. "That's come with experience. I didn't know what the weight was when I came here as a freshman. Coach (Derek) Yush has really helped me find my throw and understand what it takes to compete at this level. It's fun to go out there and compete."
The Tigers then put an exclamation point onto the end of an exciting weekend of competition by clocking an NCAA qualifying time in a runner-up finish in the 4x400-meter relay.
While running with the squad of senior Robert Simmons (47.64), senior Riker Hylton (46.45), senior Ade Alleyne-Forte (46.26) and junior Caleb Williams (45.77), the Tigers emerged with the No. 2-ranked effort in the NCAA this season at 3:06.11 as they finished runner-up to the 3:06.03 by top-ranked Arkansas.
The Lady Tigers also recorded one of the fastest times in the NCAA this season in the meet's final race as junior Latoya McDermott (55.00), senior Rebecca Alexander (53.04), junior Siedda Herbert (53.84) and senior Jonique Day (53.55) took home the 4x400-meter relay title with the nation's No. 3-ranked effort of 3:35.41. The Arkansas Razorbacks trailed by nearly four tenths of a second with a time of 3:35.80.
Saturday also witnessed the emergence of senior Barrett Nugent and sophomore Jasmin Stowers as two of the NCAA's championship hopefuls in the 60-meter hurdles while leading an LSU sweep in the event.
Stowers was the first to take to the track as she had already dropped her 2012 seasonal best to 8.24 for the fastest time of the semifinal round. She followed with the NCAA's No. 3-ranked performance for 2012 as she cruised to the event championship in 8.13 to finish well ahead of Baylor's Tiffani McReynolds (8.22).
Nugent followed with an impressive win of his own in the final of the men's 60-meter hurdles, clocking a winning time of 7.77 to edge Texas All-American Keiron Stewart (7.80) at the tape for the victory.
After entering the Razorback Invitational with a seasonal-best time of 7.82, Nugent qualified for the finals on Saturday with the No. 5-ranked time in the NCAA at 7.76 in the semifinal round.
Junior Takeia Pinckney added a fifth event championship for the program during Saturday's action with a victory in the women's 60-meter dash. After qualifying for the final with the fastest time of the semifinals at 7.45, Pinckney ran a 7.42 seasonal best in the final to headline a 1-2 sweep by the Lady Tigers as junior standout Kimberlyn Duncan finished a split-second back in second place at 7.43.
Junior distance standout Laura Carleton also enjoyed a Top 10 performance in school history on Saturday afternoon as she took fourth place in the invitational mile with a personal record of 4:43.12 that cut a total of eight seconds off her previous PR with the No. 5-ranked effort all-time by a Lady Tiger.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers return to action next weekend as they make their annual journey to New York to compete as part of one of the premier collegiate meets of the indoor season at the prestigious New Balance Collegiate Invitational to be held Feb. 3-4 at The Armory Track & Field Center.