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LSU’S FORMER U.S. INDOOR CHAMP JEREMY HICKS WINS OUTDOOR BRONZE
IN LONG JUMP
LSU SID
EUGENE, Ore.
– With his performance during Saturday’s long jump
competition at the 2011 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships,
former Tiger All-American Jeremy Hicks put himself in position to
compete for Team USA at this summer’s IAAF World Championships
after claiming the bronze medal with his wind-aided jump of 26 feet, 7
inches for third place.
Hicks, the 2010 U.S. Indoor champion, moved into second place in the
competition after jumping a series best of 26-7w on his third attempt,
trailing only jumps of 26-10 ½w by Florida junior Will Claye and
26-9 by Texas sophomore Marquise Goodwin heading into the final round
of jumps.
Hicks would go on to win the bronze medal with that performance, while
Goodwin captured the gold over Claye with his winning jump of 27-4w in
the fourth round.
In order to earn a spot on Team USA that will head to Daegu, South
Korea, later this summer for the 2011 IAAF World Championships in
Athletics, Hicks must meet the “A” qualifying standard of
26-11 during a sanctioned competition by the Aug. 8 deadline for
acceptable marks into the meet.
Dwight Phillips is the defending World Champion and is automatically
qualified to compete at the World Championships. While Goodwin has only
met the “B” qualifying standard with his seasonal-best mark
of 26-9 ¾ he will also compete as the U.S. Outdoor champion.
Claye has already met the “A” standard in the 2011 season
with his best mark of 27-2 ½ as he is also qualified for the
World Championships.
That means Hicks must also meet the “A” qualifying standard
of 26-11 by the Aug. 8 deadline if he hopes to compete at the World
Championships as the bronze medalist at this year’s USA Outdoor
meet.
Hicks was not the only Tiger long jumper to compete Saturday as senior
All-America Zedric Thomas was the eighth-place finisher after posting a
series-best wind-aided mark of 26-0 ¼ on his third jump during
an exciting prelim. Thomas posted a top wind-legal mark Saturday of
25-11 ½ on his second attempt.
Thomas has enjoyed an outstanding weekend of competition at the USA
Outdoor Championships after he earned a fifth-place finish in the
triple jump on Thursday with a top wind-aided mark of 55-2 ¾.
In Saturday’s semifinals, former Tiger hurdler Ryan Fontenot
matched a personal record in the 110-meter hurdles as he finished in
fifth place in the second semifinal heat with a time of 13.48 seconds.
That equals his lifetime PR that he set during the 2010 outdoor season.
Fontenot finished in 13th place overall with the men’s semifinals
as he came up short of earning a spot in the eight-man final.
A trio of Lady Tigers followed with an appearance for the first round
of qualifying of the women’s senior 100-meter hurdles as 2008
Olympian and the defending U.S. Outdoor champion Lolo Jones and
freshman All-American Jasmin Stowers each advanced to the semifinal
round from the same qualifying heat.
Jones won the second semifinal heat with her wind-aided time of 12.73
(+2.5) for the fourth-fastest on the afternoon, while Stowers followed
in fourth place in the same heat as her time of 13.10w secured the
final qualifying spot for the semifinal round with an 18th-place finish
overall.
Lady Tiger senior Tenaya Jones also made her first career appearance at
the USA Outdoor Championship on Saturday as her time of 13.41 earned a
sixth-place finish in the fourth qualifying heat.
LSU sophomore and reigning NCAA champion Kimberlyn Duncan is certainly
among the favorites vying for a spot on Team USA in the 200-meter dash
as she entered Saturday’s competition as the 2011 outdoor world
leader in the event with her seasonal best wind-legal time of 22.24
recorded in winning the national title in the event at the NCAA
Championships on June 11.
Duncan certainly made her presence known early in the competition as
she cruised to a victory in the first preliminary heat with a
wind-legal time of 22.54 (+1.1). Her time held up as the fourth-fastest
Saturday as she easily advanced to the semifinal round that will be
held Sunday afternoon.
Duncan actually finished ahead of former Lady Tiger star Stephanie
Durst in the first heat as Durst earned a second-place finish in the
heat with her semifinal qualifying time of 22.81.
One former Tiger sprint star will also compete in the men’s
semifinals of the 200-meter dash, with Xavier Carter taking second
place in the third prelim heat with the 10th-fastest time of the day at
20.53w.
Two Lady Tigers came away from Saturday’s competition at Hayward
Field as medalist while competing as part of the 2011 USA Junior
Outdoor Track & Field Championships as freshman Karen Henning won a
silver medal in the women’s junior hammer throw and Class of 2011
recruit Samantha Levin captured the bronze medal in the women’s
junior 800-meter run with two outstanding performances.
Henning set a new personal record in the hammer throw with her
series-best mark of 184-5 on her second throw of the afternoon as she
eclipsed her previous best of 183-2 entering the competition. She also
threw 184-4 on her fifth throw of the series for her best performance
to date as a Lady Tiger.
A native of Kings Park, N.Y., Henning finished exactly seven feet
behind the 2011 U.S. Junior Champion in Atlanta’s Shelby Ashe,
who took home the gold medal with her winning throw of 191-5.
While emerging as one of the nation’s premier young talents in
the 800-meter run this year, Levin secured the U.S. Junior bronze medal
during Saturday’s championship action as she ran the
second-fastest time of her prep career at 2 minutes, 7.35 seconds.
Levin finished behind two college freshmen Kenyatta Iyevbele of NC
State (2:06.37) and Chelsea Cox of Georgetown (2:06.71).
Levin owns a lifetime PR in the 800-meter run of 2:06.74 that was set
in winning her third Missouri Class 4A state title in the event for the
No. 5-ranked prep performance nationwide in 2011.
Fellow Lady Tiger Class of 2011 recruit and St. Louis native Montenae
Roye-Speight followed with a PR in the girl’s junior 400-meter
final as she earned a fifth-place finish with a time of 53.73. That
effort ranks No. 6 among prep quartermilers for the 2011 outdoor season
and No. 4 among the Class of 2011.
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