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LSU TRACK STARS DUNCAN, FORBES REPEAT AS SEC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
BATON
ROUGE – After being honored by the Southeastern Conference office as
SEC Athletes of the Week a week ago, LSU Track & Field juniors
Kimberlyn Duncan and Damar Forbes were recognized for the second week
in a row following their performance at the Tyson Invitational this
past weekend.
Duncan was honored as the SEC Women’s Runner
of the Week again on Tuesday, while Forbes captured the SEC Men’s Field
Athlete of the Week honor for the second-straight week.
Duncan’s
repeat selection Tuesday marks the fourth-straight week in which a Lady
Tiger has been picked as the SEC Women’s Runner of the Week as senior
Cassandra Tate was honored Jan. 24 and junior Charlene Lipsey was
recognized Jan. 31 prior to Duncan in each of the last two weeks.
While
already establishing herself as the NCAA Championships favorite in the
200-meter dash in 2012 as the defending NCAA Indoor champion and
current NCAA leader in the event, Duncan emerged as a championship
contender in the 60-meter dash with a personal-best performance this
weekend at the Tyson Invitational held at the Randal Tyson Track Center
in Fayetteville, Ark.
Duncan set back-to-back personal
bests of 7.28 seconds in the semifinal and 7.26 in the final en route
to a second-place finish in the championship final of the 60-meter dash
on Friday night behind only Central Florida’s national-leading freshman
Octavious Freeman (7.20).
After entering this year’s Tyson
Invitational with her previous seasonal best of 7.34, Duncan ranked No.
1 in the SEC and No. 6 in the NCAA at 7.26 as a championship contender
in the 60-meter dash.
A native of Katy, Texas, Duncan
followed her performance in the 60 meters by capturing her
12th-straight finals victory against collegiate competition in the
200-meter dash on Saturday with a winning time of 23.23 that ranks as
the No. 3 time in the world for the 2012 indoor season. Duncan, who is
currently rated No. 1 in the NCAA in the 200 meters with a seasonal
best 23.22, has now run four of the world’s five best times indoors in
2012, including No. 2 at 23.22, No. 3 at 23.23, No. 4 at 23.25 and No.
5 at 23.29.
Forbes has also been recognized again this
week as the SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week after taking the NCAA
lead in the long jump with his Tyson Invitational victory on Friday
night.
Forbes set a new indoor personal record with a jump
of 26 feet, 7 ¾ inches on his third jump of the prelim round to take
the title by more than 15 inches over Ole Miss’ Caleb Lee (25-3 ¼). It
was the third-straight week in which Forbes set a 2012 seasonal best
after posting jumps at 26-0 ¼ at the Razorback Invitational on Jan. 27
and 26-0 ¾ at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational on Feb. 3.
A
native of Decatur, Ga., Forbes entered the Tyson Invitational as the
nation’s No. 2-ranked performer for the long jump with his previous
best of 26-0 ¾. With his mark of 26-7 ¾ on Friday night, he soared
ahead of the previous NCAA-leading mark of 26-7 by Texas standout
Marquise Goodwin.
Forbes also moved into the No. 3 spot on
LSU’s all-time indoor performance list in the long jump trailing only
the likes of Tiger greats John Moffitt (27-1 ¾) and Walter Davis (26-9)
in school history.
LSU’s 2012 SEC Track & Field Athletes of the Week
SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Feb. 7 – Damar Forbes
Feb. 14 – Damar Forbes
SEC Women’s Runner of the Week
Jan. 24 – Cassandra Tate
Jan. 31 – Charlene Lipsey
Feb. 7 – Kimberlyn Duncan
Feb. 14 – Kimberlyn Duncan
SEC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Jan. 31 – Denise Hinton
SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week
Jan. 24 – Tori Bliss
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