LSU women's sprint relay team earns spot in NCAA final

Nov 13, 2023

LSU Tigers junior Thelma Davis crosses the line to win the 4x100 meter relay during the SEC championship meet on Saturday, May 13, 2023 at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

The LSU women's track and field team set the table well in the NCAA championships Thursday night with the sprint relay team leading the way through the semifinals.

Alia Armstrong and Michaela Rose, the national leaders in their respective events this spring, also easily advanced to Saturday night's finals.

While LSU wasn't finished until late Thursday night at Michael A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, the Tigers did what they had to do early on.

The 4x100-meter relay team of Armstrong, Favour Ofili, Brianna Lyston and Thelma Davies started it all by taking second in its semifinals heat with a time of 42.84 seconds.

That turned out to be the fourth-fastest time of the day.

Less than an hour later, Armstrong coasted to a win in her heat of the 100-meter hurdles, where she came in with a wind-aided best of 12.31 seconds.

Armstrong's time of 12.54 seconds in the third and last semifinal was the fastest of the evening as she just edged Arkansas' Ackera Nugent, who claimed the first heat in 12.55 seconds.

Armstrong is the defending champion in the event, having won last June with a time of 12.57 seconds. She'll get the chance to make it two in a row Saturday night when the four-day meet comes to a close.

Rose, a sophomore, also positioned herself for a run at a national title in the 800 semifinals when she won her heat with the fastest time of the night at 2 minutes, 00.31 seconds.

Earlier this season, Rose recorded the second-fastest time in collegiate history with a 1:59.08 in winning the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California.

Also, Shani'a Bellamy advanced in the 400-meter hurdles, getting in as a timed qualifier after running fourth in her heat in 55.99 seconds.

The Tigers' 4x400-meter relay team closed out the evening late Thursday night.

The LSU men return to the track Friday night for their finals with live coverage beginning at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.

LSU, which scored 15 points Wednesday to sit in fourth place in the team standings, will have a 4x100-meter relay team and four individuals vying for national honors.

The relay team of Brandon Hicklin, Dorian Camel, Da'Marcus Fleming and Godson Oghenebrume, which set the collegiate record of 37.90 seconds last month, will try to take the national title.

Fleming and Oghenebrume are also looking for high national honors in the open 100 meters, while Claudio Romero competes in the discus and Apalos Edwards goes in the triple jump.

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