LSU Alumni Gold Results | Tom Jones Classic Results

BATON ROUGE, La. - With the conference championships just around the corner, the University of South Florida track and field teams got the ball rolling Saturday at the LSU Alumni Gold Meet at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium, earning numerous top-5 finishes and personal bests on a very successful afternoon.

On Friday, sophomore Jared Thomas began the meet by winning the discus title after a throw of 183-9 on his fourth attempt to put him more than two feet ahead of his next competitor. Senior Tyler Perkins finished fifth in the discus on the heels of a toss of 172-2.

Also coming in first at the meet was sophomore Casey Wagner, whose toss of 151-10 in the javelin on her last of six throws on the day put her ahead of the second-place finisher by more than six feet and was within two and a half feet of her all-time best.

Senior Yvana Hepburn took fifth in the main section of the 100 hurdles and ran a new personal best of 13.49, eclipsing her previous PR of 13.63 she ran at the Sea Ray Relays last week.

Also Saturday, several runners competed at the Tom Jones Memorial Classic held at Florida. Sophomore Shaniel Chambers and freshman Rachel James posted BIG EAST qualifying times in the 400 meters, with Chambers running a time of 56.75 and James finishing just behind her in 56.90.

Sophomores Nicole Rozario and Allie Prendergast also competed at Florida, as Rozario posted a qualifying time in the 1,500 meters in 4:33.33, with Prendergast finishing in 4:36.32. Sophomore Phillip Wise just missed out on a qualifying time in the 1,500 meters in 3:56.16.

Back at the LSU meet and running in the main division of the 400 meters, sophomore David Aristil and freshman Pascal Orelus bumped up their personal bests with times of 47.50 and 47.55, respectively, slightly off the pace of the 47.28 school record held by Carlton Mitchell, as they now sit second and third all-time at USF. The duo finished 11th and 12th, respectively, in the main division.

Freshman Dariel Jackson came in second in the 'B' section of the 100 meters among more than 60 competitors when she ran 12.01, only edged out by Christie Jones of Houston, as Jackson was just 0.01 seconds off her all-time PR. Later in the day, Jackson finished fifth in the 'B' section of the 200 meters with a time of 24.60.

Sophomore Reshaw Exilien gave the Bulls their third BIG EAST qualifier in the 400 meters when he completed the lap around the track in 48.01, easily posting a new PR and moving into sixth on the all-time list at USF.

Freshman Neamen Wise did the same in the long jump, as the former Florida high school state champion launched himself 23-4.5 for his first collegiate outdoor jump and a BIG EAST qualifying mark, placing fifth at the meet and immediately putting himself at fourth all-time at USF.

Wise also posted a conference qualifying time in the 400 hurdles, running in 54.23 as he continues to recover from an indoor hamstring injury.

Juniors Stephanie Duffy and Dana Webb went 2-3 in the pole vault competition when they cleared 12-11.75 and 12-7.25, respectively. On the men's side, both senior Sean Young and freshman Wyatt Metzger went over the 16-3.5 height, with Metzger easy going above his best of 15-9 from earlier this year and cracking the top 5 all-time at USF. Young finished in a tie for third, while Metzger came in fifth at the meet.

Also taking second was senior Samantha Shade in the triple jump, where she launched herself 39-1.25. Two of her teammates posted new personal bests as well, with junior MaShonda Rayner leaping 38-1.5 to top her previous best of 37-7.25, while freshman Tralanda Todd added USF's fourth BIG EAST qualifier in the triple jump with a leap of 37-4.50.

Junior Rachel Etienne kept the conference qualifying marks coming after she earned a spot at the BIG EAST Championships in the 400 hurdles when she ran 1:02.50, with senior Kayla Richmond finishing in 1:03.66.

Also on Friday, sophomore Atasha Warren took sixth in the discus after posting a new PR of 150-9, with sophomore Lauren Noe reaching eighth with a throw of 148-1, less than a foot away from her all-time personal best. Noe upped her placement to fifth in the hammer on Saturday when she fell just short of her PR with a heave of 175-4, while Warren did post a new PR by finishing eighth with a distance of 167-0.

On the women's side, freshman Monique Williams grabbed third at the meet in the long jump by clearing 19-4 for her all-time best, while Etienne came in eighth in with a leap of 18-8.

In the high jump, a leap of 6-8.25 gave senior Michael Kursteiner sixth place, and in the triple jump, junior Antillio Bastian placed seventh in the main division after going 47-9. Thomas also threw the shot put and launched it a distance of 46-1.25.

Exilien also ran the 200 for the first time this year, finishing in 22.28, with senior Josh Wimbley posting a time of 21.88. Williams, Jackson, Todd and freshman Ena Johnson posted a time of 47.40 in the 4x100 relay.

The Bulls will compete in the Penn Relays next Thursday and Friday in Philadelphia before heading to the BIG EAST Outdoor Championships in two weeks in Cincinnati.