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LSU TRACK & FIELD STARS REPEAT AS SEC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
BATON ROUGE – Following
a historic weekend for the Tigers and Lady Tigers at the 85th Clyde
Littlefield Texas Relays, two LSU Track & Field athletes have
received repeat selections as SEC Athletes of the Week as announced by
the Southeastern Conference office on Tuesday afternoon.
It
came as no surprise when Lady Tiger junior Kimberlyn Duncan was honored
as the SEC Women’s Runner of the Week following her selection as the
Most Outstanding Performer of the 2012 Texas Relays.
Tiger
senior Kyron Blaise also earned a repeat selection as the SEC Men’s
Field Athlete of the Week with his NCAA-leading performance in taking
the Texas Relays title in the triple jump.
This marks the
seventh-straight week in which at least one Tiger or Lady Tiger has
been recognized as an SEC Athlete of the Week dating back to Jan. 24 of
the indoor season. LSU Track & Field athletes have earned a total
of 17 SEC Athlete of the Week honors during the 2012 campaign.
A
sprinter from Katy, Texas, Duncan enjoyed her homecoming this past
weekend as she earned the honor as Most Outstanding Performer of the
Texas Relays after leading the Lady Tigers to four event titles and a
total of four NCAA-leading performances at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Duncan
became the first Lady Tigers since Kelly Baptiste in 2008 to win the
women’s university 100-meter dash championship at the Texas Relays as
she clocked a career-best wind-aided time of 10.94 seconds in
Saturday’s final for an easy victory by .15 seconds over the rest of
the field. Her effort tied her as the No. 6-ranked performer under all
conditions in the 100-meter dash in NCAA history. She made her 2012
season debut in the 100 meters on Friday while running a wind-legal
time of 11.26 in the prelim.
Duncan’s wind-aided run of
10.94 in the final ranks No. 2 worldwide under all conditions, while
her legal time of 11.26 in her season opener is No. 4 in the world
rankings for wind-legal races in 2012.
Duncan also ran on
three winning relays this past weekend as she led the Lady Tigers to
NCAA leaders in the 4x100 relay (42.99), 4x200 relay (1:30.01) and
sprint medley relay (3:43.79).
Their winning runs of
1:30.01 in the 4x200-meter relay and 3:43.79 in the sprint medley relay
established new meet records at the Texas Relays as they broke their
own records of 1:30.07 in the 4x200 in 2003 and 3:43.98 in the sprint
medley relay in 2010. In addition, Duncan anchored LSU to the No.
4-ranked time in NCAA history in the 4x200-meter relay with their run
of 1:30.01 on Saturday.
With her performance, Duncan
became the sixth Lady Tiger to be named the Most Outstanding Performer
at the Texas Relays, joining a distinguished list that also features
Schowonda Williams (1987), Dawn Sowell (1989), Dawn Bowles (1992),
Cheryl Taplin (1994) and Lolo Jones (2003).
Blaise snapped
a nine-year drought as LSU’s first Texas Relays champion in the men’s
triple jump with a personal-best performance on Friday night in
extending his NCAA lead in the event this season.
Blaise
took control of the competition early on after posting a seasonal-best
wind-aided mark of 53 feet, 6 ½ inches on his second jump of the
preliminary round. He followed by setting a new wind-legal PR on his
third jump with a strong mark of 53-3 ¾ to solidify his Texas Relays
victory and become the first Tiger to take the title since the great
John Moffitt accomplished the feat in 2003.
While jumping
a series-best of 53-6 ½w, Blaise improved his No. 1 ranking in the NCAA
this spring with all-conditions marks as he entered the meet with a
previous seasonal-best of 53-5w. In addition, his PR of 53-3 ¾ moved
him into No. 9 spot on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the
event.
LSU’s 2012 SEC Track & Field Athletes of the Week
SEC Men’s Runner of the Week
March 20 – Aaron Ernest
SEC Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Feb. 7 – Damar Forbes
Feb. 14 – Damar Forbes
March 20 – Rodney Brown
March 27 – Kyron Blaise
April 3 – Kyron Blaise
SEC Men’s Freshman of the Week
March 20 – Aaron Ernest
March 27 – Aaron Ernest
SEC Women’s Runner of the Week
Jan. 24 – Cassandra Tate
Jan. 31 – Charlene Lipsey
Feb. 7 – Kimberlyn Duncan
Feb. 14 – Kimberlyn Duncan
March 27 – Kimberlyn Duncan
April 3 – Kimberlyn Duncan
SEC Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Jan. 31 – Denise Hinton
March 20 – Samia Stokes
SEC Women’s Freshman of the Week
Jan. 24 – Tori Bliss
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