LAFAYETTE, La. - The LSU throwers stole the show during Saturday's action at the Louisiana Classics meet as senior Brieanna Kennedy, freshman Rodney Brownand freshman Jeremy Tuttle led the way with personal bests the 2012 outdoor season opener at the Ragin' Cajuns Track Stadium.
Freshman sprinter Aaron Ernest was also impressive in his outdoor debut while claiming three event wins on the afternoon, including a new wind-legal PR in winning his first career 100-meter dash title.
In all, LSU athletes captured six event titles at this year's Louisiana Classics while finishing in position to compete in the preliminary rounds for the 2012 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships to be held at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla., on May 24-26.
"Today was a solid start for our teams for the outdoor season," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. "The way in which our athletes competed today was impressive for a season opener. Many are already in a spot to compete at the NCAA Championships with their performance today at the Louisiana Classics."
Brown enjoyed perhaps the most impressive performance by an LSU athlete in Saturday's outdoor season opener as he threw a personal record of 190 feet, 8 inches in a runner-up finish in the men's discus.
Brown wasted no time in establishing himself as one of the NCAA's premier performers in the discus this season after unleashing the 2-kg. implement a distance of 190-8 on his second throw of the preliminary round to advance to the final. He finished as the top collegian in the field as Jamaica's international discus star Jason Morgan threw 209-4 to take the Louisiana Classics title.
Brown followed his series-best of 190-8 on his second throw with a mark of 182-9 on his third attempt for an impressive series in his collegiate debut for the Tigers in the discus event.
A native of Chappell Hill, Texas, Brown joined the Tigers after a brilliant career at Navasota High School where he set a personal best of 198-7 with the 1.5-kg. implement used at the prep level. Brown is now the school's No. 6-ranked performer in the discus all-time as his top mark of 190-8 would have claimed him a fourth-place finish in the final at the NCAA Outdoor Championships during the 2011 season.
While Brown finished as the top collegian in the men's discus, Lady Tiger senior Samia Stokes captured a third-straight Louisiana Classics title in the women's discus after opening the outdoor season by throwing a series-best 171-5 on her third attempt to finish nearly 10 feet clear of the field.
Stokes added marks of 168-5 on her first attempt and 168-7 on her fifth attempt as she posted a best throw that is sure to earn her an invitation to compete at the NCAA Championships for the third-straight year.
Kennedy followed Stokes in second place in the women's discus final after throwing a PR of 161-7 in her final sixth and final round of throws. Kennedy actually set to personal bests on the weekend after opening the meet with an impressive PR of 194-4 on her fourth attempt in the hammer throw to take third place for the event. She is now the No. 7-ranked performer in team history with her discus PR of 161-7.
Tuttle added a personal best of his own in the men's javelin competition after posting a mark of 212-11 in the sixth round of throws to move into fourth place in the final event standings. He eclipsed a previous PR of 201-4 that was set during his prep career at Buena High School in Sierra Vista, Ariz.
Ernest proved to be LSU's top performer on the track during Saturday's event at the Louisiana Classics as he swept sprint titles in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash in his outdoor collegiate debut after leading the Tigers to victory in the 4x100-meter relay by running the second leg.
Ernest first stepped onto the track for the 4x100-meter relay final, teaming with sophomore Ben Guarisco, freshman Trevor Sansone and sophomore Shermund Allsop for a winning time of 40.26 seconds.
He then followed with a personal-best performance in winning the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.31 as his wind-legal effort was run with a tailwind of 1.8 meters per second. Ernest wrapped up the competition with a victory in the 200-meter dash after clocking a season-opening time of 21.29 run into a headwind of 1.5 meters per second in the first 200-meter section.
Allsop finished runner-up to Ernest in the 100-meter dash after running a wind-aided 10.44 to take first in the second heat. Sansone added a wind-legal PR of his own with a time of 10.54 to finish in fourth behind Ernest in the first heat and in seventh place overall in the final 100-meter standings.
LSU athletes also swept 400-meter dash titles on Saturday as senior Robert Simmons ran 47.01 to win the men's final and freshman Montenae Roye-Speight ran 55.20 to win the women's final in the event.
The top 48 performers in each individual event and the top 24 relay teams that declare for the postseason in both the East and West regions will compete at the preliminary rounds of the NCAA Championships in 2012. Hodges Stadium near the University of North Florida in Jacksonville will serve as the East site, and Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin will serve as the West site.
In all, 96 individuals and 48 relay teams nationwide will compete in the preliminary rounds of the NCAA Outdoor Championships scheduled to run from May 24-26.
Drake Stadium at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, will play host to the semifinal and final round at the 2012 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships from June 6-9.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers are ready to return to Baton Rouge next weekend as they play host to the first meet of the outdoor season with the LSU Relays scheduled to run March 23-24 at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium. They will then make their annual trip to Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, to compete at the 85th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays set to run March 29-31.