LSU finishes eighth in SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships

BY CHLOE RICHMOND @chlorichmond

The Tigers traveled to Fayetteville, Arkansas for The SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships last weekend and finished in eighth place with three individual title wins.

Heading into the championship, the LSU women’s track team had high expectations. The Tigers went into the match as the No. 4 seed in the SEC, falling at No. 8 in the National TFRI poll behind No. 2 Arkansas, No. 3 Florida and No. 6 Alabama.

Despite a decorated team with high rankings from the women’s team, the Tigers struggled to deliver. After the first day of the event, the women’s track team was in 11th place out of 14.

The first score on Friday for the women’s team came from Morgan Smalls during the long jump.

Smalls finished with a leap of 6.30m on her third attempt of the day, making the best leap of her season. She finished in fifth place, earning four points for the Tigers. against three-pointers.

The second and final scoring event for the women’s team was the distance medley relay. Lorena Rangel Batres, Hannah Douglas, Cindy Bourdier and Callie Hardy ran the race together and finished in eighth place with a time of 11:23.73. The group’s time gave the Tigers one point, finishing the women’s first day of the championship with five points.

The men’s track team has been in and out of the National TFRI rankings all season, peaking at No. 25 in the second week. The men’s team went into the championship as the No. 12 seed in the SEC.

Coming in at No. 27 in the National TFRI poll, the Tigers were behind No. 1 Arkansas, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 7 Florida, No. 10 Georgia, No. 12 Alabama, No. 14 Kentucky, No. 17 South Carolina, No. 18 Texas A&M, No. 20 Mississippi State, No. 21 Ole Miss and No. 24 Auburn.

Beau Domingue finished seventh in the pole vault with a clearing of 5.20m to put the men’s team on the board with two points.

Luke Witte competed in the men’s weight throw, finishing with a throw of 21.46m on his fourth attempt. Witte’s fourth-place finish added five points to the board for LSU and concluded the men’s first day of the championship with seven total points.

On the second day of the competition, the women’s team gathered points seven times in six events. Smalls was the first to put LSU on the board again with a 1.80m clearing in the high jump event. She stood on the podium in third place, giving the Tigers six points.

Batres ran the mile for the Tigers and finished in sixth place. Her time of 4:41.95 added three points to the sheet.

In the 800-meter event, two athletes earned points for the women’s team. Michaela Rose took home first place with a time of 2:01.09 and added 10 points to the team’s total. Bourdier finished in fourth place with a time of 2:05.04 and added five points.

Leah Phillips competed in the 60-meter hurdles event and finished in fourth place. With a time of 8.05, she earned five points.

Favour Ofili contributed greatly to the total score for the LSU women’s team. In the 60-meter event, she finished in sixth place with a time of 7.24 to give the Tigers three more points. Ofili also competed in the 200-meter event and ran away with a first-place finish of 22.52. She added 10 more points to finalize the score for the women’s team.

The men’s team got off to a hot start with John Meyer winning first place in the shot put event. Breaking a program record, Meyer threw a distance of 20.37m to earn 10

GYMNASTICS, from page 9

LSU had a comfortable lead as it headed into its weakest event, the balance beam. Arenas led off the lineup with a 9.825. Schennikova struggled to find rhythm in her routine and finished at 9.725.

Sierra Ballard impressed all when she earned a careerhigh of 9.900. The junior made a 0.075 jump from her previous career high of 9.825. Lake Charles native Bryce Howard hopped in for Aleah Finnegan in the anchor spot. Appearing back on beam for the first time since her fall in Kentucky, the freshman registered a 9.825.

The Tigers were cool and collected as they headed into the final rotation on floor. Ballard led with a 9.850. Schennikova ended her rocky night on a good note with a 9.900.

Brock, who has struggled her first few performances on floor, appears to have finally found her grounding. The junior matched the career-high 9.925 that she registered last week in Alabama. Bryant closed out the meet with a 9.925, one of her strongest scores on the floor this season.

The purple and gold will return to the PMAC for the final regular meet of the season before the SEC Championships. The team will face West Virginia at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 10. Fans at home can stream the meet on the SEC Network+.

RECORD, from page 9 same time, Williams picked up three fouls in close succession, giving him four with just under 10 minutes remaining.

Things were already bad before the forward was taken out of the game and while the Tigers would go back-and-forth with Florida for the next couple minutes of game time, they were steadily losing momentum thanks to consistent turnovers and poor defense, particularly

WILLIAMS, from page 9 lone season at LSU may not have produced the same highs as their Ohio Valley Conference title campaign in 2022, but it gave them the opportunity to play one more season together. It has also allowed Williams to continue improving his game. McMahon may not be ecstatic to see Williams go, but he’s enjoyed watching the forward improve over the years and is excited to see what he can do moving forward.

“I think selfishly for me it’s just been a lot of fun to get to coach him and watch his growth and development over the years,” McMahon said. “While I know he would have liked to have done more winning this season, I think he’s really been able to create value for himself as he moves forward with his professional career.”

The run that sealed the deal began with just over five minutes to go, when Florida guard Will Richard converted a layup to give the Gators the lead, the last lead change of the game. That kicked off a 20-5 run where Florida converted on three three-pointers and forced three turnovers, making LSU look completely lost on both sides of the ball.

From the moment they gained their 12-point lead, the

Tigers were outscored 47-23, ultimately flipping that lead into a 12-point deficit by the game’s conclusion. It was an ugly loss to conclude an ugly season, one where the team tied its largest number of SEC losses in the last 50 years with 16.

Things had looked promising at the start of the season, following considerable wins against Wake Forest and Arkansas and a close loss to Kansas State, who started Big 12 play on fire around the same time points for the Tigers.

Podium finishes continued to roll in for the Tigers as Apalos Edwards finished third in the triple jump. His leap of 16.84m added six points to the board. Davis Bove finished second in the mile run with a time of 4:02.67, gathering eight points.

Godson Oghenebrume competed in the 60-meter event and finished with a time of 6.64. His thirdplace finish earned six points.

The last event the Tigers placed in was the 800 meter. Alex Selles earned fifth place to add four points after a time of 1:50.07. Parker McBride also earned points from the 800-meter event, finishing behind Selles in sixth place with a time of 1:51.53. His three points finalized the score for the Tigers.

The women’s track team finished the weekend with 47 points, giving the team eighth place. The men’s track team’s finish was identical to the women’s, finishing in eighth place with 47 points.

The NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships will take place on March 10-11 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The women’s team heads into the competition at No. 12 nationally while the men’s team sits at No. 18.

After an unexpected finish for both teams at the SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Tigers look to finish strong before heading into the outdoor season.

LSU fans were still optimistic. But the team would respond to its fandom’s optimism by losing 17 of its last 18 games to conclude the regular season.

The Tigers have one more shot to finish the season with a semblance of success, facing a mountain of challenges in the upcoming SEC Tournament. It comes into the tourney as the last seed in the conference and will face 11-seeded Georgia in the first round Wednesday night.