Baton Rouge, La. – The LSU track and field program had another quality day at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium on Saturday as the Tigers hosted the LSU Alumni Gold meet. LSU had nine event winners while LSU alums won six events in their own right.
Nyagoa Bayak continued her rise on the all-time LSU list in the high jump on Saturday. She cleared an outdoor personal best of 6’ 0.75” (1.85 meters) on her third and final attempt at the height to win the event and move up to the No. 3 spot on the LSU list. The clearance ranks No. 9 on the NCAA list this season.
Da’Marcus Fleming and Dorian Camel both PR’d in the 100 meter dash with some quick and impressive times. Fleming was the victor with a career best readout of 10.08 seconds, while Camel clocked a career best of 10.13 to finish second. Fleming’s time is the fifth fastest in the LSU history and Camel now checks in at the No. 9 spot. On the 2022 national list, Fleming’s readout ranks as the fifth fastest.
It was another dominant showing in the hurdles by LSU hurdlers Alia Armstrong and Eric Edwards Jr. Armstrong won her event with a wind-aided time of 12.55 (+3.6 m/s), and Edwards Jr. ran a personal best of 13.34 to with the 100 meter hurdles. Edwards Jr.’s career best wind legal time makes him the third fastest hurdler in LSU history and he now owns to of the three fastest times in the NCAA this season. The time of 13.34 also rates as the third fastest on planet Earth this calendar year.
Both of LSU’s 4×100 meter relay squads captured golds on the day. The women’s foursome of Alia Armstrong, Favour Ofili, Symone Mason, and Thelma Davies clocked a 43.51 for victory, and the men’s crew of Eric Edwards Jr., Dorian Camel, Da’Marcus Fleming, and Godson Oghenebrume combined to run a time of 39.16, which was a season best.
Thelma Davies keeps rounding back in to form as she almost ran a personal best in the 200 meter dash. Davies ran a slightly wind-aided time of 22.86 (+2.2 m/s) to win her first individual title of the season.
Alicia Stamey won her first race of the outdoor season with a personal best readout of 4:24.65 in the 1,500 meter run. Teammate Sara Funderburk followed up in second with a readout of 4:28.04. Cade Martin earned silver for the men in the same event with a time of 3:57.37.
Apalos Edwards won the first title of his collegiate outdoor career with a wind-aided mark of 52’ 2.50” (15.91 meters) in the triple jump on his sixth and final attempt of the day.
In the women’s 100 meters, the top three spots went to runners with LSU ties. Aleia Hobbs took first in 10.84 seconds, Favour Ofili place second in 10.90 seconds, and Mikiah Brisco placed third in 10.90 as well. The times were aided by a bit with a helping wind of 4.2 meters per second.
Other LSU alums such as Rayvon Grey, Quincy Downing, Vernon Norwood, Tyler Terry and Cassandra Tate had successful days as well. Grey, the 2021 NCAA indoor champion, leaped out to a career best mark of 26’ 9.75” (8.17 meters) in the men’s long jump to move up to the No. 6 spot on the world list this season. Norwood took second in the 400 meter dash in a time of 44.61 seconds in his season opener to rank fourth on the world list this season; Terry clocked a career best of 45.00 seconds to place third.
Downing and Tate both won the 400 meter hurdle races in their return to Bernie Moore Track Stadium. Downing ran a time of 49.93 and Tate clocked a 55.75. Current LSU athlete Sean ‘Squirrel’ Burrell ran a season best of 51.53 in the 400 meter hurdles to place second in the men’s event behind Downing.
Morgan Smalls and Serena Bolden finished fourth and fifth in the women’s long jump, but were the top collegiate finishers in the event. Smalls notched a mark of 20’ 10.50” (6.36 meters), while Bolden tallied a wind-aided leap of 20’ 7.75” (6.29 meters).
The women’s 800 meter run duo of Lorena Rangel and Hannah Carroll worked their way to a two-three finish in the race. Rangel ran a 2:05.53 for the silver and Carroll clocked a career best readout of 2:07.31 for the bronze.
Additional PRs
- Doria Martingayle – 1,500m – 4:32.16
- Gwyneth Hughes – 1,500m – 4:54.08
- Molly McHale – 1,500m – 4:57.15
- Michaela Rose – 400m – 53.65
- Serena Bolden – LJ – 6.29m (20’ 7.75”)
- Eric Coston – 800 – 1:49.91
- Adam Wise – 800 – 1:51.74
- CJ Ekeanyanwu – 400 – 47.76
- Eric Coston – 800 – 1:49.91
- Adam Wise – 800 – 1:51.74
(Press release provided by LSU Athletics)