Tiger Rag News Services
TRACK AND FIELD
The LSU track and field team closed out their final day of action at the SEC Indoor Championships on Saturday, hosted by Texas A&M at the Fasken Indoor Track & Field Facility. After three days of competition the LSU women finish in 12th with 23 points, while the men finish in 12th with 20 points.
The biggest moment of the season came as redemption for senior Ella Onojuvwevwo, just a year removed from getting a red card at the SEC Indoor Championships. The Nigerian star made her season debut in the 400 meter on Friday, clocking the fastest time of the heats with 51.79 seconds. Today, Onojuvwevwo blew that time and her competition out of the water with a winning time of 50.96 seconds, giving her the first individual gold medal of her collegiate career.
Onojuvwevwo became just the second woman in LSU history to go sub-51 seconds indoors with 50.96 seconds, improving her No. 2 rank in LSU performance-list history from the PR she set at this meet a year ago of 51.06 seconds. She now sits No. 2 in the NCAA this season, No. 6 in the world this year and No. 2 in African indoor history.
Athaleyha Hinckson is having a stellar freshman season for the Tigers, which she put another exclamation mark on in Saturday’s competition. The Guyanese-national-record holder broke her record yet again with a time of 7.16 seconds in the SEC 60-meter final to close her weekend. The time ties her for tenth in LSU PL history with legendary alum Kimberlyn Duncan and would put her at No. 6 in the NCAA entering the day. She also ties for No. 12 performance in world history for the U20 section of the 60m.
The men’s 60-meter field was as stacked as it may have ever been for a conference meet. Junior Jaiden Reid finished fifth overall with a time of 6.59 seconds to score four points for the Tigers. The collegiate record of 6.45 seconds was tied in the race by Auburn sprinter, Kanyinsola Ajayi.
In the women’s 200 meter, Keliza Smith made a splash this week as she introduced herself to the SEC. Smith clocked a personal-best time of 22.91 seconds in the prelims, shattering the previous Guyanese-national record. Smith finished sixth overall on Saturday with a time of 23.08 seconds to score three points for the Tigers.
The 60-meter hurdle duo of Jahiem Stern and Matthew Sophia combined for three points in the final. Stern finished seventh with a time of 7.66 seconds, while Sophia finished eighth with a time of 7.67 seconds.
The day started with the women’s shot put, which included three Tigers. Freshman Jillian Scully recorded the most impressive shot-put outing of the year for LSU, reaching a new personal-best mark of 15.63 meters (51-3.5) on her third toss of the day. Scully made the final of the shot-put event but was unable to outperform her new PR. The mark of 15.63m puts her at No. 8 in LSU performance-list history, just ahead of her teammates Ambria Langley and Leah Acosta.
Sophomore Edna Chepkemoi had a good showing in the 3000 meter as she clocked a new personal best of 9:04.93, improving her No. 2 spot in LSU history. Chepkemoi finished 10th overall, just missing on the opportunity to score.
To close the night the LSU men’s 4×400-meter relay team rolled out a new lineup of Jeremiah Walker, Grant Buckmiller, Amal Glasgow and Malachi Austin. The Tigers finished fourth in heat three with the No. 6 time in LSU PL history of 3:04.60 to score five points with a fourth-overall finish.
Other Head Coach Dennis Shaver’s Notables
Trenton Sandler ran a 3000m PR of 8:15.64.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
The No. 12 LSU Beach Volleyball team went 4-1 at the Tiger Beach Challenge in Baton Rouge defeating Southern Miss, Houston Christian, North Alabama and UL-Monroe. The Sandy Tigs are back on the road for the next two weekends competing in the MPSF Coast to Coast Classic and East Meets West Invitational.
“This weekend was an important event for our progress as a program,” said head coach Russell Brock. “We had a lot of really strong performances and some incredible growth. The task ahead of us this week is to take all the experience we gained and things we learned and put them into our training to prepare for our next trip. We have a great season ahead of us and can’t wait to keep getting better.”
LSU started the day with a matchup against No. 18 Washington. The match started with a point secured by Bella Lagemann and Zayna Meyer on Court 4; 21-18, 13-21 and 15-10, while Kate Baker and Emily Hellmuth fell on Court 5; 21-13 and 18-21. The second wave of matches started with Camryn Chatellier and Aubrey O’Gorman falling on Court 3; 18-21 and 20-22. Julia Sprecher and Kenzey McGatlin battled to three sets but eventually fell to give the Washington Huskies the match on Court 1; 18-21, 21-17 and 7-15, while Tatum Finlason and Skylar Martin fell on Court 2; 26-28, 21-17 and 15-6.
After a break, the Sandy Tigs faced UL-Monroe and finished the weekend with a 5-0 sweep over the Warhawks. Baker and Hellmuth got things started for LSU with a straight set win on Court 5; 21-16 and 21-14. Meyer and Lagemann followed in their footsteps, winning in three sets on Court 4; 21-23, 21-19 and 15-10. O’Gorman and Chatellier won Court 3 to clinch the win for the Tigers; 21-11 and 21-14. Finlason and Martin gave the Tigers another point on Court 2; 21-4 and 21-15, while McGatlin and Sprecher secured a victory on Court 1 to round out the match; 21-18 and 21-18.
SWIMMING AND DIVING
The LSU swimming team put together three school-record performances in the Last Chance Invitational at the James E. Martin Aquatic Center in Auburn, Ala. on Friday, Feb. 27 and Saturday, Feb. 28.
The Tigers sent six athletes to the competition to attempt to qualify for the NCAA Championships in March.
Breaststrokers Volodymyr Lisovets and Guilherme Camossato each broke a school record on Friday night. Lisovets did so in the 100-breast with a time of 51.13, taking down former Tiger Mitch Mason’s top time of 51.55. Camossato clocked a time of 1:52.73 in the 200-breast to break his own school record, which was set earlier this season at the SEC Championships.
On Saturday, Grace Palmer broke the 200-breast school record on the women’s side. The sophomore touched the wall with a time of 2:07.55 to take the No. 1 spot in program history, overtaking Niamh Robinson’s record set in 2020.
Stepan Goncharov, Nicole Santuliana, and Avery Littlefield also competed in their respective events at the meet.
The Tigers will be back in action when the diving team heads to the NCAA Zone D Diving Regional hosted by Texas A&M on March 8-11. Following the regional, the Tigers’ swimming and diving program will send athletes to the NCAA Championships. The women’s championship is held on March 18-21, while the men’s championships will be held on March 25-28. Both will take place at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Ga.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
The No. 9 LSU women’s tennis team was unable to overcome top-ranked Georgia, falling 4-0 on Saturday afternoon at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex.
LSU drops to 8-3 while Georgia moves to 8-1.
Singles competition
1. #75 Cadence Brace (LSU) vs. #7 Aysegul Mert (UGA) 6-2, 3-6, 2-4, unfinished
2. #51 Kayla Cross (LSU) vs. #48 Anastasiia Lopata (UGA) 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 1-1, unfinished
3. Ella McDonald (LSU) vs. #41 Deniz Dilek (UGA) 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 4-5, unfinished
4. #114 Carolina Kuhl (LSU) fell to #30 Anastasiia Gureva (UGA) 4-6, 6-3, 4-6
5. #115 Addison Lanton (LSU) fell to #52 Sofia Rojas (UGA) 6-7 (3-7), 4-6
6. Alexia Marginean (LSU) fell to Emma Dong (UGA) 5-7, 1-6
Doubles competition
1. #40 Kayla Cross/Ella McDonald (LSU) def. #8 Deniz Dilek/Aysegul Mert (UGA) 6-2
2. Cadence Brace/Carolina Kuhl (LSU) fell to #77 Anastasiia Lopata/Patricija Paukstyte (UGA) 5-7
3. Addison Lanton/Florentine Dekkers (LSU) fell to Emma Dong/Anastasiia Gureva (UGA) 3-6
Up Next
LSU returns home to host Florida on Thursday, Mar. 5, at 5:00 p.m. CT at the LSU Tennis Complex.
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