NCAA Track Championships: LSU Men Fourth; Women Eleventh

The LSU men's and women's outdoor track team traveled to Eugene, Oregon this week to compete in the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. LSU sent 25 total athletes (11 men and 14 women) to the championships. The men's team finished in 4th place with 45 team points and the women finished in 11th place with 26 team points.

Senior Vernon Norwood led the way for the men as he won the individual national championship in the 400 meter dash with a time of 45.10 seconds. He then returned to the track along with Quincy Downing, Cyril Grayson, and Fitzroy Dunkley to win the national championship in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:01.96.

The 4x100 meter relay team consisting of Joshua Thompson, Vernon Norwood, Tremayne Acy, and Aaron Ernest were able to put up a performance worthy of a bronze medal and ran a time of 38.62 which was less than two tenths of a second behind the 4x100 champions, Arkansas.

Other men's athletes who contributed points towards the Tigers team score was Quincy Downing, who finished 4th in the 400 meter hurdles final. Joshua Thompson also had a 4th place finish in the 110 meter hurdle final. Tremayne Acy and Aaron Ernest finished 4th and 5th respectively in the 200 meter final.

On the women's side, Tori Bliss started off the team scoring for the Lady Tigers as she finished with a bronze medal in the shot put. Rebekah Wales then added to that score with a fourth place finish in the javelin throw.

On the track, Chanice Chase was able to put up a personal best in the 100 meter hurdles and finish in 6th place followed by fellow Lady Tiger Daeshon Gordon, who finished 8th. Aleia Hobbs also had a 6th place finish in the 100 meter final and Jada Martin was able to grab a point with an 8th place finish in the 200 meter final.

The University of Oregon was able to sweep both the men's and women's team competitions. The men won the team title with 85 total point and the women took their team title with a total of 59 team points.