Junior pole vaulter Devin King is now tied for seventh best mark in the country.
File photo/ The Lion's Roar
The Lions Track & Field team had a successful meet at LSU Bayou Bengal finishing in first place in four categories and finished in 12th place in the Jaguar Invitational where they only competed in five categories.
Graduate student middle distance and hurdler Andre Colebrook broke his previous record that he set in the Southland Conference Championships by running the 800-meter in 1 minute and 51.50 seconds which is the second fastest in the Southland Conference this season. Sophomore jumper Rodney Ruffin cleared 7 feet, 1.5 inches to set a new indoor record and give him his fifth straight event win.
“We had a good meet, but not a great meet,” said Head Coach Sean Brady. “Having said that, we had three individuals that had outstanding meets. Andre Colebrook set a new school record. Devin King in the pole vault moved to number seven in the country and probably secured a spot for him in the Nationals Competitions. Rodney Ruffin broke the record he set last week and also moved up on the national performance list. Again, it was not our best meet, but we have been on the road a lot and dealing with injuries. ”
The team has struggled with injuries and a flu that was passing around the team keeping some players out of action.
“13 of our athletes in the past 10 days have either had the flu or flu like symptoms related to allergies,” said Brady. “When you are riding in vans for hours on end, those things happen. We have held people out over the past few weeks. We have tried to quarantine some folks, but it seems we always end up a day late. However, the silver lining in all of this is that it is happening now and not when we are in the championship competitions. We should be good and in three weeks when we go to our conference meets, our young men and women should be feeling much better and being ready to perform.”
King won the pole vaulting competition for the second year in a row at the Bayou Bengal.
“I think he jumped liked 17.5 last year and the next year he jumped 17.10,” said Brady. “Physically, he really has come into his own. He is a much better athlete than he was before. He lost his old pole vaulting coach to another job. So, I’m coaching him now. We have only had a few competitions together. It takes a little for while for people to get on the same page, but he doesn’t seem to have that problem. He has matured in some ways emotionally. The pressure that he was under as a freshman and a sophomore.”
The Lions took a small group to the Jaguar Invitational where Ruffin picked up his seventh win.
“Hopefully, we are healthy the rest of the year and are able to compete for the conference championship,” said Brady. “I expect nothing other than that for them their performance and to give them a chance to see the building that we will be competing in for the conference championship.”