BATON ROUGE -- Senior sprinters Juanita Broaddus and Richard Thompson were among four LSU athletes invited to compete in the 101st Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday night and returned victorious in their respective events.
Broaddus won the women’s college section of the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.29 seconds, while Thompson ran away from the competition in the Under-23 men’s 60-meter dash in 6.76.
The duo is already automatically qualified to compete in the 60 at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships after Broaddus opened the season with a 7.26 in the event at the Purple Tiger Classic on Jan. 19 and Thompson broke his own school record in the event with a 6.62 at the Razorback Invitational on Jan. 26.
In a preview of a battle that is sure to come at the NCAA Championships in March, LSU senior Jessica Ohanaja finished runner-up to Michigan’s Tiffany Ofili in the women’s college section of the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.21. Ofili won the event title with a time of 8.13.
Ohanaja was the NCAA runner-up in the 60 hurdles in 2007 after setting a new personal best of 8.00 in the national final, while Ofili is the reigning NCAA champion in the 100-meter hurdles.
Senior All-American Kelly Baptiste was also invited to compete in the women’s college section of the 60-meter dash at the Millrose Games but was unable to finish after committing a false start. Baptiste is already provisionally qualified for the NCAA meet with a seasonal best time of 7.33.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers will return to New York next weekend as they join more than 100 universities from across the country at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational at The Armory Track and Field Center beginning Friday. They follow with a trip to Fayetteville, Ark., on Feb. 15 to compete in the Tyson Invitational at the Randal Tyson Track Center.