Competition resumes tomorrow with pole vault, weight throw, triple jump and women’s high jump on the field event docket along with 200-meter, 800-meter, the women’s 400-meter final, mile run, 3,000-meter and the relays on the track.
NEW YORK – Highlighted by a record-breaking performance from redshirt freshman Austin Whitelaw, the Tennessee track & field team picked up six top-five finishes on day one of the 12th annual Armory Collegiate Invitational at the New Balance Track Center inside The Armory in New York City.
With more than 100 colleges and universities spanning both the nation and the globe in attendance, Whitelaw cruised around one of the fastest tracks in the nation to complete the men’s championship 5,000-meter in 14 minutes, 18.11 seconds.
A native of Monroe, Mich., the redshirt freshman crossed the line in third place with the record-setting time. His mark shattered the University of Tennessee indoor freshman record of 14:24.29 set by former Olympian Todd Williams in 1988. Whitelaw’s time ranks seventh in the UT all-time records and would sit as the 13th-best time in the nation entering the weekend.
Sophomore thrower Matthew Hoty, who holds the UT freshman record in the shot put, put together a fourth-place finish in the men’s championship shot put on Friday. Hoty’s best toss was in the vicinity of 60-feet at 59-3.5. His classmate Tavis Bailey, who joined the 60-foot club last week, placed seventh in the event with a best push of 56-4.75 (17.19m).
After advancing to the finals of the men’s 60-meter championship division with a time of 6.81 seconds, sophomore Jamol James won the opening heat of the finals in a personal-record-tying time of 6.72 seconds. James would end up fifth in the event.
In a loaded distance medley relay team consisting of four top-20 teams, the Vols DMR posted a season-best time of 9:56.75 on the banked course to finish in seventh place. Entering the weekend, that time would rank 12th in the nation.
For the Lady Vols, junior pole vaulter Linda Hadfield continued her stellar indoor campaign with a near-personal-best vault in the Big Apple. Hadfield tied for third place in the championship division with a mark of 13-5.25 (4.10m), which is good for second all-time in the UT indoor record books. Hadfield fell just shy of her own school record mark of 13-5.75. Her teammate Erin Champion also posted a top-five finish in the college section of the women’s pole vault. Champion eclipsed 12-5.5 to take fifth place.
In other field events, freshman Cassie Wertman continued to improve on her personal-best in the women’s shot put. The Holland, Ind., native placed fifth with a push of 51-10.5 (15.81m).
On the oval, Villanova was just off the Lady Vols’ meet record of 10:56.40 set in 2009, as the Wildcats won the women’s DMR in 10:56.74 – the fastest time in the nation this season. UT’s DMR placed seventh in the loaded field with a season-best performance of 11:24.74. Entering the weekend, that mark would rank sixth in the nation. It’s also one of the top-25 marks in the event in UT indoor history.
The Big Orange returns to action in New York City on Saturday morning at 8:30 a.m. ET at The Armory. Many big events will take place on the oval on Saturday, including the men’s and women’s mile, 800m and 4x400m relays.
LSU Enjoys Recod-Setting Opener 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 and Charlene Lipsey set meet records and fellow senior Laura 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.
Nebraska Finishes Day One at Husker Invite
Lincoln, Neb. – The Tigers just wrapped up day one of the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational, hosted by the University of Nebraska. The Mizzou squad met up with some of the top performers this year in fellow-SEC members Alabama, Auburn, and Florida, and left the track with four new personal best marks.
The morning started with the season’s first pentathlon competition for sophomores Katrine Haarklau and Morgan Whitson. They took fifth and eighth in the competition, respectively, and each walked away with new indoor personal bests in one of the five events. Haarklau earned her PR early on, racing to an 8.97 finish in the first event of the day: the 60m hurdles. This beats her previous PR of 9.05, made earlier this season. Whitson’s new PR came during the third event of the day, hitting a mark of 5.43m (17-9.75) in the long jump to beat out her 2012 PR of 5.25m (17-2.75).
The next event for the Tigers was the men’s weight throw, where senior Jacob Bullinger led the Tigers with his 10th place finish. The women’s weight saw the third PR for the day, as junior Bethany Pfeiffer bested her previous best mark of 17.57m (57-7.75) with a measure of 17.67m (57-11.75) on her second throw. Sophomore Kearsten Peoples finished third for the Tigers in the competition, followed by Pfeiffre in eighth.
Junior Kyle Wessel finished 12th in the pole vault competition, ending the competition at 4.78m (15-8.25). Finally, the lone track event for the Tigers was the day’s final PR, as sophomore Drake Stuedemann ran to a 49.02 finish in the 400m dash. He finished third in his heat, 15th overall, after dropping his previous record by 0.37 seconds.
The Tigers will be back on the track tomorrow for the final day of competition. For the latest updates on your Tigers stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Twitter @MIZ_TrackField.
Auburn Enjoys Successful First Day in Lincoln
LINCOLN, Neb. – Auburn track and field enjoyed a successful first day at the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite on Friday including several personal bests.
Sprinters Marcus Rowland (6.66), Harry Adams (6.67) and Keenan Brock (6.69) each reached the finals of the men’s 60 meters in sparking fashion. The trio finished with the second, third and fourth best times to advance to Saturday’s race.
Both Rowland (21.03) and Adams (21.06) also reached the finals of the men’s 200 meters with the top two times from the preliminary round.
Brock (21.53) and Jeremy Hardy (21.64) were the fastest times to miss the final and will be the top two seeds in the consolation heat. Hardy also narrowly missed the 60m final as the ninth-fastest mark at 6.75 seconds.
Distance runners Griffin Jaworski (14:20.18) and Samuel Mueller (14:29.64) came up big in the 5,000 meters. Both established two personal bests while finishing 3rd and 4th overall. Jaworski shattered his previous mark by more than a minute.
In his first action of the 2013 indoor season, SEC champion Stephen Saenz placed seventh in the weight throw. His mark of 18.85m (61-10.25 feet) is a new career-best throw.
Women’s throwers Tori Nwadiogbu (52 feet/15.85m) and Anna McCloskey (48-0.5 feet/14.54m) both set new PRs in the weight throw.
Action continues on Saturday beginning with the multis at 10 a.m. CT. Saenz makes his season debut in the shot put at Noon central time.
For the latest on Auburn track and field, follow @AUTrack on Twitter.
Nine Gators Advance to Finals in Nebraska
The University of Florida track & field teams began competition at the 38th Annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational on Friday at Devaney Center Indoor Track at the University of Nebraska.
“I was pleased with the way we performed today, across the board,” Florida head coach Mike Holloway said. “Half of our athletes qualified for finals tomorrow and I think our throwers and jumpers are where they should be at this point in the season.”
Nine Gators advanced to Saturday’s finals, including sophomore quartermiler Hugh Graham, Jr. (Miami, Fla.), who won the prelims of the men’s 400 meters in 47.25, and freshman phenoms Destinee Gause (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) and Kyra Jefferson (Detroit, Mich.), who each advanced in the women’s 60 meters on Friday evening with PRs of 7.37 and 7.41, respectively.
“I was very impressed with Destinee and Kyra, who both ran PRs in the 60 today,” Holloway said. “They’re progressing well as the season continues and keep working hard in practice which shows at meets.”
Junior Ebony Eutsey (Miami, Fla.) continued her progress in the shorter sprints by qualifying for the finals of the women’s 200 meters in 24.04. Sophomore Dedric Dukes (Miami, Fla.) ran a lifetime PR on Friday with his 21.18 time to qualify for the finals in the men’s 200 meters, while senior Leonardo Seymore (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) also qualified in 21.41.
Advancing along with Graham, Jr. in the men’s 400 meters was freshman sprinter Arman Hall (Pembroke Pines, Fla.), who came in fourth with a time of 48.18.
“I’m very proud of both Hugh and Arman for qualifying for finals tomorrow,” Holloway said. “An important part about this meet is being able to prepare for the conference meet. You have to run prelims and finals on back-to-back days and I think they both had solid runs today and understand what it takes to prepare for that many races in such a short span of time.”
Two hurdlers made the cut on Friday night, as senior Ugonna Ndu (Newark, N.J.) advanced in the women’s 60-meter hurdles in 8.43, and freshman Moriel Pitt (West Palm Beach, Fla.) raced to a PR-tying 7.98 in the men’s 60-meter hurdles to qualify for Saturday’s finals.
“Moriel had a great race today and tied his PR to advance to tomorrow’s final,” Holloway noted. “I was proud of him for that, as well Eddie Lovett (West Palm Beach, Fla.) who ran the first 60 of his life and nearly made the final.”
The Gators finished 2-3 in both the men’s and women’s long jump. On the men’s side, sophomore Marquis Dendy (Middletown, Del.) earned a runner-up finish with his leap of 7.60m/24-11.25, while senior Omar Craddock (Killeen, Texas) jumped 7.40m/24-3.50 to come in third. On the women’s side, junior Lorraine Graham (Springdale, Md.) finished second with a mark of 6.00m/19-8.25 and sophomore Ciarra Brewer (Union City, Calif.) earned third with her jump of 5.90m/19-4.25.
In his first appearance of the 2013 season, senior Jeremy Postin (Andover, Kan.) turned in a third-place throw of 20.70m/67-11, his best season-opening throw of his career, while fellow senior David Triassi (Jacksonville, Fla.) finished fifth with his 19.89m/65-3.25 mark. Sophomore Kyle Strawn (Temecula, Calif.) continues to improve, throwing a career best of 18.51m/60-8.75 to come in ninth.
“I’m very pleased with Jeremy’s performance today,” Holloway mentioned. “In speaking with Coach (Steve) Lemke and Jeremy afterwards, they were very pleased with his first meet of the season and we expect him to be in this range, so I think he’s right where he should be.”
Sophomore Jayla Bostic (Wellington, Fla.) threw just shy of her personal best in the women’s weight throw on Friday, tossing for a 19.74m/64-9.25 mark to finish in the runner-up spot.
On Saturday, the field and running events will start at 1 p.m. ET. Gator thrower Luka Mustafic (Rakitje, Croatia) and Strawn will start things off for the Orange and Blue on the second day of action with the men’s shot put.
“I think everyone has an understanding of what we want to get done this weekend,” Holloway said. “We’re going to rest up for tomorrow, go back to the track, stick our nose in there and see what we can do.”
Live results for the two-day meet can be found here and a full schedule can be seen on Huskers.com.
The Husker Invitational is named in honor of former Nebraska track and field head coach Frank Sevigne, who fought a gallant battle against cancer prior to his death on Jan. 29, 1985. Sevigne was posthumously inducted into the USTFCCCA Hall of Fame on Dec. 4, 2004, in Portland, Ore.
For all of the latest information on Florida track and field, please log on to www.GatorZone.com/trackfield or, for up-to-the-minute updates, follow Florida track and field on Twitter at @GZTrackField or www.twitter.com/GZTrackField. You can also find the Gators on Facebook.
Wildcats Underway On First Day of Road Trip
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Kentucky track and field teams kicked off day one of competition at both the Husker Invitational and the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational on Friday.
The Husker Invitational is taking place in Lincoln, Neb., and the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational is taking place in South Bend, Ind.
Kayla Parker provided one of the most eye-catching performances on Friday as she took fourth in the women's long jump, with a personal record 5.88m/58-08.0. .
Keilah Tyson qualified for Saturday's women's 200m final with a time of 24.09.
Darryl Bradshaw and Keith Hayes reached the men's 60-meter hurdles final on Saturday with times of 8.0 and 8.07 respectively. Bradshaw's time tied a PR.
Walter Luttrell finished 19th in the men's 5,000M at Notre Dame with a time of 14:50.44. Jacob Wildenmann finished 36th in the same meet.
Live results will be available for both meets and live video of the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational will be available at FloTrack.com on Saturday.
Long Jumpers Highlight Day One at Notre Dame for Ole Miss
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Allegra Wells claimed the women’s long jump title to highlight Ole Miss track & field’s day one performance at the Meyo Invitational on Friday.
Ole Miss went 1-3-5 in the women’s long jump, with Wells leaping to a winning mark of 19-9.5. That’s just two inches off the personal best for the former Rebel volleyball standout. Marci Morman claimed third place with a personal-best 19-5.5, while Deonna Walton finished fifth at 19-5.25.
Freshman sprinter Asia Cooper clocked the fastest 60-meter time in the prelims with a 7.50 and followed that up with the second-fastest semifinal time of 7.52 to advance to Saturday’s final. Jasmine Williams will join her in the final after placing sixth in the semifinals with a time of 7.65.
Jazmin Miller continued her strong season with a third-place showing in the women’s weight throw (61-11).
On the men’s side, most of the top athletes for the 17th-ranked Rebels will be competing on Saturday, but Ricky Robertson did turn in a fourth-place showing in the long jump (23-11). He is tied for the top NCAA mark in the high jump and ranks third nationally in the triple jump this indoor season.