‘It’s time to kick’

• By SHELDON MICKLES
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: May 17, 2008 - Page: 2C - UPDATED: 12:15 a.m.

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AUBURN, Ala.—Going into the Southeastern Conference Championships, LSU track and field coach Dennis Shaver was eager to see how his athletes would fare in the prelims of the 200 and 800 meters.

The concern for Shaver was those events aren’t contested at many of the outdoor meets the Tigers and Lady Tigers compete in—most notably the Texas Relays and Penn Relays.

But in a limited number of prelims that were run in conjunction with the final events of the decathlon and heptathlon, the Lady Tigers and Tigers did what they were supposed to do on a chilly evening at Hutsell-Rosen Track.

The second-ranked Lady Tigers and fourth-ranked Tigers officially began their quest for SEC titles by advancing 11 athletes to the finals of the 200 and 800, which will be contested Sunday when the three-day meet comes to an end.

So when the meet kicks into high gear today with prelims in eight events and finals in nine more, both teams will have a leg up on the competition in at least two events.

The Lady Tigers opened defense of the title they claimed last May by getting seven athletes into the finals with Kelly Baptiste, Samantha Henry and Brooklynn Morris handily winning their heats of the 200.

Baptiste posted a time of 23.52, while Henry clocked a 23.80 and Morris crossed the line in 23.93. Juanita Broaddus ran second behind Baptiste at 23.89 and also qualified based on time.

In the 800, defending champion LaTavia Thomas automatically earned a spot in the final by placing second in her heat in 2 minutes, 6.12 seconds. She was joined by teammates Kayann Thompson and Brittany Hall, who were second and third in their heats with times of 2:07.25 and 2:07.52, respectively.

In addition, LSU’s Kim Williams scored the first points of the meet for the Lady Tigers by taking fourth in the hammer. Her throw of 194 feet, 2 inches was a personal best, bettering her old PR of 184-5 by nearly 10 feet.

On the men’s side, the Tigers also picked up some points as Rabun Fox finished third with a throw of 213-1 in the hammer and Joseph Simuchimba placed seventh in the 10,000 meters at 30:02.74.

In qualifying, Elkana Kosgei, who has the best time in the SEC this spring in the 800, waited for just the right time to make his move and win going away with a time of 1:48.92.

Kosgei lagged behind much of the two-lap race, then sprinted into the lead with 80 meters remaining.

He powered his way to the front after distance coach Mark Elliott “urged” him to kick with about 200 meters to go.