Ernest Dominates 200 Armory Invitational
NEW YORK - Sophomore sprint star Aaron Ernestsolidified his reputation as a national championship contender in the 200-meter dash as he remained undefeated this season with a dominating victory in Saturday's finale at the 13th-annual Armory Collegiate Invitational at the New Balance Track & Field Center at The Armory.
Ernest became LSU's fifth event champion for the weekend as he joined a quartet of seniors Laura Carleton (3,000 meters), Kimberlyn Duncan (60 meters), Damar Forbes (long jump) and Charlene Lipsey (1,000 meters) on the winner's podium with his performance.
Friday's victories by the likes of Carleton, Duncan and Lipsey propelled the No. 5-ranked Lady Tigers to the women's team championship with 73 points at this year's Armory Collegiate Invitational. It is the sixth time in the meet's 13-year history and the first time since 2008 that the Lady Tigers have taken home the team title.
The Lady Tigers outlasted Clemson (69) in second place, Kansas (57.5) in third place and South Carolina (48) in fourth place in the final women's team standings.
LSU Track & Field has now won 10 team titles all-time at the Armory Collegiate Invitational as the Tigers last captured the men's crown in 2011 for their fourth win in 13 seasons.
The Tigers scored 53.5 points in two days of action at The Armory to finish as the men's team runner-up for the second-straight season. The Texas A&M Aggies finished 8.5 points clear of the Tigers to win the men's team title with 62 points for the meet. Clemson followed in third place with 48 points, while Tennessee scored 46 points to finish in fourth place.
"I think both our teams made a great showing here this weekend. I'm very proud with how we competed more than anything," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. "We did some great things that I know will put our teams in a position to succeed at the NCAA meet. We took another big step as a team this weekend."
Ernest continued his dominance of the 200-meter sprint and remained undefeated for the 2013 season while turning in one of the all-time great performances in the history of The Armory.
After qualifying with the fastest time of the preliminary round at 21.14 to win the first heat, Ernest lined up in lane No. 5 in the third of three sections in the men's championship final with Illinois' Brandon Stryganek in lane No. 3 and Maryland-Eastern Shore's Andre Walsh in lane No. 4 to his inside and Texas A&M's Prezel Hardy, Jr. in lane No. 6 on his outside shoulder.
With the crack of the starter's pistol, Ernest was off as he made up the stagger on Hardy, Jr. down the backstretch and gained the advantage at 100 meters. The Tiger star then pulled away from the Aggie All-American around the final turn and sprinted to the finish line with a winning time of 20.83 that drew a resounding cheer from the crowd . Ernest tied for the third-fastest 200 meters ever run in the 13-year history of the Armory Collegiate Invitational as he finished four-tenths of a second ahead of Hardy, Jr.'s 21.23 for second place.
Walsh finished third in the heat and fourth overall at 21.38, while Stryganek clocked 21.43 for fourth in the race. Clemson's Tevin Hester took third place overall after taking the second heat in 21.25.
Ernest remains the NCAA's No. 3-ranked 200-meter sprinter for 2013 with his indoor best of 20.79 in a victory at the Texas A&M Triangular on Jan. 19. While he still trails Hardy, Jr.'s 20.78 for the No. 2 spot in the national rankings this season, Ernest holds a 2-0 advantage in head-to-head competition with the Aggie star.
With his performance, Ernest becomes the third LSU Tiger to win the 200-meter title at the Armory Collegiate Invitational as he joins former Tiger stars Xavier Carter (2005) and Melville Rogers (2007).
Ernest certainly remembers the first time he stepped on the 200-meter oval at The Armory when he ran 22.13 in the qualifying heats as a freshman a year ago.
"I ran 22 something on this same track last year, so I'm really excited to come back here and show what I do in a competition like this, Ernest said. "It's not easy to run the 200 on this track. I'm excited that I was able to run that well. I felt really good running the prelim, so I knew I would come back and run pretty fast in the final.
"There are always great sprinters in this meet. To be one of the fastest ever to run here means a lot, but I wanted to win it today."
Ernest continues his momentum from a breakout freshman season outdoors in 2012 when he captured an impressive three All-America honors in his debut at the NCAA Outdoor Championships before a haul of three medals for the United States at the IAAF World Junior Championships last summer. He was the silver medalist in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes at World Juniors last year and the anchor leg for the gold-medal-winning 4x100-meter relay for the United States.
"I didn't have the confidence running indoors last year like I do right now," Ernest said. "Doing what I did during the outdoor season last year has really helped me this year. I know I've got what it takes to compete indoors just like I do outdoors. It's been a great season so far, and I want to keep it going each week."
Two other Tigers added to LSU's point total as sophomore Quincy Downing and freshman Darrell Bushenjoyed indoor personal-best performances in Saturday's finale.
Downing was the first to step onto the track as he scored five points with a fourth-place finish in the men's championship 800 meters while running an indoor PR of 1 minute, 50.96 seconds. Downing's PR outdoors is 1:50.68 set during his freshman season a year ago. Bush, who has run an outdoor best of 46.95 in the 400 meters, ran his third indoor PR in as many races this season with a run of 47.26 to earn fifth place in Friday's championship final. Bush ran a previous best of 47.37 in Friday's qualifying round.
The Lady Tigers scored the majority of their points in the field events during Saturday's finale, including a combined 18 points between the triple jump and weight throw.
Junior Denise Hinton led the way as she continued the momentum from a record-setting Friday night for the Lady Tigers by matching her own school record in a second-place finish in the weight throw. A series-best mark of 69 feet, 9 ¾ inches locked up a runner-up finish for the Peachtree City, Ga., native as she trailed only event champion Alena Krechyk of Kansas (71-4 ¾) in the standings. Hinton moved into the No. 6 spot in the NCAA rankings with her performance while equaling her school record set at the LSU NCAA Indoor Qualifier a year ago.
Hinton wasn't the only Lady Tiger to set a seasonal-best in the weight throw final as fellow junior Karen Henning threw 60-7 ¾ for seventh place. Henning owns a personal best of 60-10 in the event.
The Lady Tigers added eight points with a strong showing in the championship triple jump as junior Keri Emanuel jumped a series-best 41-8 ½ for third place and junior Lynnika Pitts posted a new seasonal best of 40-10 ½ for seventh place in the competition. Emanuel already ranks No. 4 in the NCAA with a best of 42-8 ¾ this season.
LSU's women clinched their team championship with a third-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay with seniorSiedda Herbert, senior Charlene Lipsey, junior Nikita Tracey and sophomore Montenae Roye-Speightrunning 3 minutes, 38.65 seconds for second place in the third heat. Arkansas won the relay in 3:35.20, while Clemson followed second place at 3:38.06 to win the second heat.
The Tigers earned a runner-up finish in the men's 4x400 relay as freshman Cyril Grayson, Downing, seniorCaleb Williams and Bush ran 3:10.68 for second place behind Texas A&M's 3:09.62.
Other LSU athletes setting indoor personal bests on Saturday afternoon were sophomore Philip Primeaux(8:38.37) in the 3,000 meters and freshman Fitzroy Dunkley (48-8 ¼) in a second-place finish with the men's college triple jump.
"I thought our athletes performed very well across all of the event areas this weekend," Shaver said. "We talk so much with our athletes about the importance of taking advantage of each opportunity to compete. It's not always about how fast you run or how far you might jump or throw. It's about how hard you compete when given the chance. We saw a lot of that here this weekend."
The Tigers and Lady Tigers will now head back to the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., next weekend to compete in the Tyson Invitational being held Feb. 8-9. The University of Arkansas will also play host to the SEC Indoor Championships on Feb. 22-24 and the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 8-9.
Lady Tigers Have Record-Setting Day at Armory
NEW YORK - It was a record-setting opener for the fifth-ranked Lady Tigers on Friday at the 2013 Armory Collegiate Invitational as seniors Kimberlyn Duncan andCharlene Lipsey set meet records and fellow seniorLaura Carleton turned in a new school record while winning their events at the New Balance Track & Field Center.
Duncan broke Lady Tiger great Kelly-Ann Baptiste's meet record in winning the 60-meter title, while Lipsey eclipsed her own meet record to win the 1,000 meters and Carleton set LSU's new indoor mark in winning the 5,000 meters at The Armory for the first time in school history.
Duncan became the NCAA's No. 1-ranked 60-meter sprinter this season while leading four event winners on the day as Tiger senior Damar Forbes also defended his title in the men's long jump.
While claiming four event championships during Friday's action at The Armory, the Tigers and Lady Tigers also combined for five performances that rank among the NCAA's Top 10 in 2013.
Duncan certainly stole the show with an NCAA-leading performance in the final event of the day for the Lady Tigers as she dominated an NCAA Championship caliber field in winning the 60-meter crown. After winning her qualifying heat with the second-fastest time of the rounds at 7.33, Duncan was mistakenly assigned lane No. 8 when she returned to the track for the final. But that proved no match for the reigning NCAA Indoor 200-meter champion as she cruised to an easy victory with a meet record and personal record of 7.16.
Clemson's Dezerea Bryant, the NCAA leader entering the meet, trailed Duncan in second place at 7.26, while Portland State's Geronne Black won the bronze medal with a time of 7.30.
It marks the second-straight final in which Duncan has set a new personal best as she ran 7.22 to win the 60-meter title at the Razorback Invitational a week ago.
Duncan emerged from the event as the NCAA's No. 1-ranked performer in both the 60 meters (7.16) and 200 meters (23.15). Her winning time of 7.16 on Friday broke the previous meet record of 7.17 by Baptiste in her 2008 victory and moved her into the No. 3 spot on LSU's all-time performance list in the event.
"I wasn't expecting anything like that at all," Duncan said. "Running out there (on the outside), I thought maybe I ran 7.3 or something like that. It didn't feel like I ran that fast. I'm just so happy right now. I never thought I could contend in the 60. This is a big thing for me."
Duncan is now the third Lady Tiger to win the 60-meter title at the Armory Collegiate Invitational as she follows Baptiste (2008) and three-time champion Muna Lee (2002-04).
"For me to be up here with people like that, it just motivates me to try to achieve some of the things they did while they were here at LSU," Duncan said. "I can't wait to see what the rest of this season is going to bring. I'm feeling confident right now with what I'm able to do."
Lipsey certainly set the tone as LSU's first athlete to step onto the track at this year's Armory Collegiate Invitational as she turned in a meet-record performance in defending her 1,000-meter crown.
Lipsey took the lead coming off the very first turn of the race and never looked back as she scored a wire-to-wire victory in her final collegiate appearance at The Armory. Pushed to the finish line by the likes of Villanova's Stephanie Schappert and Iowa State's Ejiroghene Okoro, Lipsey crossed the finish line after running 2 minutes, 44.20 seconds for an easy victory as Schappert followed in second place at 2:45.65 and Okoro trailed in third place overall at 2:46.23 in the fourth section.
A product of Hempstead High School in Hempstead, N.Y., Lipsey eclipsed the previous meet record of 2:44.34 she set in winning her first career Armory Collegiate Invitational title a season ago as she will wrap up a brilliant collegiate career as a two-time 1,000-meter champion in 2012 and 2013.
"I'm trying to figure out where I am this year compared to the same time last year. Breaking my record shows me I'm in good shape," Lipsey said. "I wanted to take the lead early. In a race where there's so many other runners, you don't want to get boxed in. I wanted to set a pace where not everybody could follow, but there would be enough people to push me through."
Lipsey added that she wanted to make the home fans proud while returning to her home state for her final collegiate appearance at The Armory.
"It means a lot to win here," Lipsey said. "I've run a lot of races here over the years going back to high school. I think winning these races and setting meet records and things like that show everyone here that I made a great decision in coming to LSU. I'm proud of how far I've come since I got here."
With the track still sizzling following Lipsey's record-setting run, Carleton set a record of her own while becoming the fastest Lady Tiger in history to run the 5,000 meters indoors with her victory.
Carleton and Maine's Corey Connor separated themselves from the rest of the pack early in the 25-lap race as Carleton chose to run on the shoulder of her opponent in second place. After turning in consistent 39-second laps throughout the race, Carleton took charge with three laps to go after running 40 seconds on her 22nd trip around the oval and never relinquished her lead as she took the tape in 16:11.58 to outlast Connor's 16:14.19 for the crown. She is the first Lady Tiger to win the 5,000-meter championship at the Armory Collegiate Invitational.
Carleton, who has run a best of 16:28.08 in the 5,000 meters outdoors during her collegiate career, certainly made the most of her first career indoor 5k as she smashed the previous indoor school mark of 17:16.95 set by former Lady Tiger Bridgette Cusack back in 2000.
Not only that, but Carleton also cracked the Top 10 of the NCAA rankings with her performance as she is now the No. 7-ranked 5,000-meter runner nationally for 2013.
"I was pretty confident I was going to get the (school) record," Carleton said following the race. "My PR outdoors is 16:28, so I wanted to try and go under that. Coach (Mark Elliott) was calling out splits for each lap, and we were running even 39s every lap. We ran 40 seconds that lap, and since I felt pretty good, I decided to pass (Corey Connor). It was a pretty good race."
After setting meet and school records in their distance sweep, Lipsey and Carleton later returned to the track to pace the Lady Tigers to a seventh-place finish in the distance medley relay.
With Carleton running the 1,200-meter leadoff leg and Lipsey running the 1,600-meter anchor leg, they teamed with sophomore Montenae Roye-Speight on the 400-meter leg and junior Nikita Tracey on the 800-meter leg to run the second-fastest DMR indoors in school history at 11:22.74 for seventh place.
While the Lady Tigers were led by a trio of event winners during Friday's opener at The Armory, Forbes took flight in the long jump for the first time this season and successfully defended his meet crown in the championship final with the No. 2-ranked performance in the NCAA for 2013.
A three-time NCAA long jump silver medalist over the last two seasons, Forbes has already solidified his reputation as a national title contender after opening with a top mark of 25 feet, 10 ¼.
It marks the seventh time in the 13-year history of the Armory Collegiate Invitational that an LSU Tiger has captured the men's long jump championship as Forbes is the first two-time winner since former Tiger star John Moffitt in 2003 and 2004. Other Tigers to win the event include Walter Davis (2002), Will Coppage (2009) and Zedric Thomas (2010).
The Lady Tigers were also impressive with their performance in the long jump as junior Keri Emanuel led the way with a seventh-place finish while setting an indoor PR of 20-4 ¼. Emanuel cracked the Top 10 of the NCAA rankings with her effort as she eclipsed her previous best of 19-9 ¾ with the 10th-ranked mark nationally this season.
Senior Brittany Porter (19-9 ¾) and junior Lynnika Pitts (19-4) also enjoyed seasonal-best performances while finishing in ninth place and 11th place, respectively.
Another Lady Tiger who continued her climb up the national rankings with an impressive performance was junior Jasmin Stowers as the four-time SEC champion struck silver in the 60-meter hurdles final. Stowers clocked the sixth-fastest time in the NCAA this season at 8.19 to finish runner-up to Clemson's collegiate record holder Brianna Rollins (7.93).
While Stowers finished runner-up in the championship final, senior Shanekia Hall won the consolation final in the women's 60 hurdles with a strong run of 8.32.
While Duncan wrapped up the meet for the Lady Tigers with an impressive win in the 60-meter dash, the Tigers went out with a bang in their final event of the day as senior Rynell Parson and sophomore Aaron Ernest ran impressive seasonal bests in a 2-3 finish in the men's 60-meter championship.
Parson moved into a tie for the No. 13 spot in the NCAA rankings with his 6.68 seasonal best for second place, while Ernest followed in third place after setting a PR of 6.69 in the final. They were edged at the finish line by Mississippi State's D'Angelo Cherry, who took the men's title in 6.67.
"We got a lot done as a team today," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. "We're continuing to build upon what we've done through the first three meets of the season. That's the kind of progress we've come to expect each time out. It's important for us to keep that going here tomorrow with another opportunity to compete."
Two Tigers have given themselves an opportunity to run in Saturday's championship finale as senior Caleb Williams and freshman Darrell Bush each advanced to the final of the men's 400-meter dash on the strength of their performance on Friday afternoon.
Bush raced to a new 2013 seasonal best and indoor personal record of 47.37 to win the seventh preliminary heat with the eighth-fastest time of the qualifying round. Williams grabbed the ninth and final qualifying spot for the final with a preliminary run of 47.43 in a runner-up finish in the sixth heat.
Other LSU athletes setting indoor personal bests during Friday's action were freshmen Joshua Lamers (8.14) in the 60 hurdles and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake (6.82) in the 60 meters.
The action at the 13th-annual Armory Collegiate Invitational continues early Saturday morning as the LSU Track & Field teams open the competition at 7:45 a.m. CT in the field events followed by their first events on the track at 8:46 a.m. Live results of Saturday's finale will be available online at the official website of The Armory at www.armorytrack.com.