2011 Review
Walter Henning
Duncan Emerges as Dominant Force in NCAA 200 Meters
Nugent Captures First NCAA Hurdles Crown of Collegiate Career
There is no denying that Lady Tiger standout Kimberlyn Duncan was the NCAA’s breakout star of the 2011 season as she emerged as one of the world’s premier 200-meter sprinters with her performance as a sophomore. Duncan became the sixth athlete in NCAA history and the first Lady Tiger since collegiate-record holder Dawn Sowell in 1989 to sweep NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor titles in the 200-meter dash. After taking the indoor crown with a winning time of 22.85 seconds, Duncan set the low-altitude collegiate record outdoors with a new wind-legal personal best of 22.24 in winning the outdoor title at the 2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships held in Des Moines, Iowa. Duncan won all five 200-meter finals in which she competed a season ago, while running three of the 10 fastest times in NCAA history under all conditions. She had a top wind-aided time of 22.18 at the LSU Alumni Gold that ranks No. 3 on the all-time all conditions list, while her times of 22.24 at the NCAA Championships ranks No. 7 and 22.27w at the SEC Championships ranks No. 9 on the NCAA’s list.
Junior Barrett Nugent certainly led the charge for the Tigers on the final day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last season while winning his first career national championship in the 110-meter hurdles after finishing as the NCAA runner-up in his two previous finals at the NCAA Championships. Nugent crossed the finish line with a wind-aided time of 13.28 to edge Illinois’s reigning NCAA champion Andrew Riley (13.33) at the tape for the national title. In fact, Nugent finished runner-up to Riley in each of his two previous NCAA Championships with second-place finishes in the 110 hurdles outdoors in 2010 and 60 hurdles indoors in 2011 as a title contender. He became the first LSU Tiger since Eric Reid in 1987 to be crowned the NCAA 110 hurdles champion.
Lady Tigers Dethrone Aggies as NCAA Relay Champions After breaking the 43-second barrier with the top qualifying time of 42.94 in the national semifinal of the 4x100-meter relay, the Lady Tigers sprinted to the finish line with the eighthfastest time in collegiate history at 42.64 in the final to win their 13th NCAA title in program history and dethrone the defending NCAA relay champions from Texas A&M (42.93). The Lady Tigers broke 43 seconds for the first time since the 2008 season with their run in the semifinal and final rounds at the NCAA Championships as Kenyanna Wilson, Semoy Hackett, Rebecca Alexander and Duncan captured LSU’s first NCAA title in the 4x100-meter relay since the 2004 season. The Lady Tigers also captured the Southeastern Conference title in the event during the 2011 campaign.
Duncan Rides NCAA Scoring Title to Bowerman Presentation Not only did Duncan take home two NCAA titles with victories in the 200-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, but she nearly added a third with a national runner-up finish in the 100-meter dash after recording a wind-legal best of 11.09 to finish behind only Oklahoma’s Candyce McGrone (11.08) for the NCAA crown. With her effort, Duncan finished as the meet’s scoring champion with 20.5 points in four days of competition at Drake Stadium in leading the Lady Tigers to a third-place finish in the final team standings. That earned Duncan a trip to San Antonio, Texas, for the presentation of the 2011 Bowerman Award as one of three finalists for collegiate track and field’s equivalent to the Heisman Trophy. Duncan joined Texas A&M sprinter Jessica Beard and Arkansas pole vaulter Tina Sutej for the award presentation held in December at the national convention for the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
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2012 LSU Track & Field MEDIA GUIDE
INTRO
ONLY ONE LSU
Forbes Joins 27-Foot Club with NCAA Runner-Up Performance In a men’s long jump competition that ended 21 hours, 29 minutes after it began, Tiger sophomore Damar Forbes took home his silver medal with an improbable national runner-up finish in the conclusion of a suspended second day of competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Forbes posted the second-best mark in the field with a wind-legal PR of 27 feet, 0 inches to trail only Florida State’s Ngonidzashe Makusha (27-6 ¾) before the second day of competition was suspended with heavy thunderstorms rolling through Des Moines. When the action continued on Day 3 at Drake Stadium, Forbes held his position as the NCAA Outdoor runner-up to claim his first career All-America honor. He also jumped into the LSU record books with the No. 3-ranked mark in program history at 27-0 with his effort as he trails only John Moffitt (27-9 ½) and Llewellyn Starks (27-0 ½) on LSU’s all-time outdoor performance list in the men’s long jump.
Lady Tigers Third, Tigers Fourth at 2011 NCAA Championships LSU owns the distinction as the only program in collegiate track and field to take home four team trophies from the NCAA Championships with its performance during both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2011. Trophies are awarded to the men’s and women’s teams finishing among the top four in the final standings at both the NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor meets each season. The Lady Tigers took home a pair of third-place finishes at the NCAA Championships a year ago while totaling 37 points indoors and 43.5 points outdoors at the national meet. The Tigers scored 31 points indoors and 46 points outdoors to earn two fourth-place finishes to wrap up the collegiate season among the top teams once again with their performance at the NCAA Championships.
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