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Duncan captures 200 title, Lady Tigers champs
Kimberlyn Duncan may have to build a new trophy case.
The LSU Lady Tiger junior helped propel LSU's women to the program's 32nd national championship all-time with a decisive 76-62 victory over the No. 3-ranked Oregon Ducks in the four-day event held at Drake Stadium.
Duncan, the daughter of Ferriday natives and Ferriday High graduates Antonne Duncan, Jr. and Schrylean Nix- Duncan of Katy, Texas, defended her national crown in the 200-meter dash and anchored the team to the NCAA title in the 4x100-meter relay.
"I'm proud of all the girls out here," Duncan said. "We came out here, worked as hard as we could and tried to score as many points as possible. I feel like we gave it our all, more than what we've done all season. Winning this team title is all that mattered to us. We got the 'W' today, and I'm proud of all of the girls on this team for how we really came together this season.
After Oregon regained the lead with a 51-50 advantage after scoring six points in the final of the 1,500-meter run, Duncan and Semoy Hackett gave the Lady Tigers the lead for good while teaming for 14 points in the 200-meter dash. Duncan defended her NCAA title in the event, while Hackett followed in fifth place with her performance to give the Lady Tigers a lead of 64-51 they would never relinquish.
"I remember telling the girls coming in that all we needed to do was to just get into the finals first, and we would really start scoring some big points after that," Duncan said. "I knew everything else would play out. We just really motivated each other and came here confident that we would get it done."
Duncan admitted trying to keep up with the score was nerve-wracking.
"They would announce the men's score, but not the women," she said. "I kept asking my teammates. But I knew it was close. I kept trying to figure out how many people we had running in each event. It was a great way to finish the eason and I'm proud we are the national champions."
While running into a strong headwind of 2.3 meters per second, Duncan dominated the 200-meter final in crossing the finish line in 22.86 to finish well ahead of silver medalist Kai Selvon of Auburn (23.19) for a successful defense of her NCAA crown. It also marked her 18th-straight victory in 200-meter finals run in collegiate competitions dating back to the Tyson Invitational during the 2011 indoor season.
Duncan made history with her victory as she became the first sprinter in collegiate history to complete the NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor sweep in back-to-back seasons. She also became the first LSU woman to win back-to-back NCAA Outdoor 200-meter titles in program history.
Duncan now owns six career NCAA event titles to tie her for the No. 2 spot on the team's all-time list with D'Andre Hill and Dawn Sowell. Muna Lee tops the list with seven career NCAA titles.
The Lady Tigers proved themselves as the nation's top team throughout the 2012 season as they also won the SEC Outdoor crown to write another chapter in the storied history of the nation's most iconic program in all of track and field. They also won their last NCAA crown at Drake Stadium in 2008.
With their performance, the LSU women captured their 26th national championship all-time with a total of 15 NCAA Outdoor titles and 11 NCAA Indoor titles since the 1987 season.
The race for the women's team championship turned into a two-horse race as LSU and Oregon opened up Saturday's competition with 40 points apiece to sit in a tie atop the team standings. The Lady Tigers piled up 36 points with their five scoring opportunities on the day, while the Ducks managed 22 points for their seven scoring opportunities as LSU ran away with the team crown by a final score of 76-62.
LSU and Oregon outdistanced the rest of the field as defending champion Texas A&M finished well back in third place with 38 points, followed by Clemson and Kansas in a tie for fourth place with 28 points.
Defending champion Texas A&M trailed in third place in the men's team race with 40 points followed by Florida state in fourth place with 38 points and Virginia Tech in fifth place with 33 points.
The Tigers have been on the verge of adding to their total of six national championships in recent years as Saturday marked the fourth runner-up finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships since 2006.
Duncan can now focus on the Olympics. The U.S. Olympic Trials start June 21 in Eugene, Or. Qualifying for the 200-meter dash is June 28 at 8:45 p.m. central time.
"A lot of people have been asking me about it, but I've been taking it one week at a time," Duncan said. "I would think about it, but then focus on what was at hand. I'll at least have a little time to enjoy this, and then I get back after it in preparation for the Trials." |
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