Lisa Gunnarsson wins NCAA outdoor women’s pole vault title

Eugene, Oregon  –  Prior to 2021, the LSU track and field program had zero women’s pole vault NCAA titles. Well, things have changed. Lisa Gunnarsson collected her second NCAA title of the 2021 calendar year as she cleared a winning height of 14’ 5.25” (4.40 meters) on Thursday night on day two of the NCAA Championships at Hayward Field.

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Gunnarsson, a native of Paris, France, was splendid in her performance as she did not miss a bar in four tries en route to her second career national title. After her win was confirmed, Gunnarsson moved the bar to 14’ 9” (4.50 meters) but was unable to clear that bar in three tries. With the win, she becomes the first woman to complete the NCAA indoor/outdoor sweep of pole vault national titles since Kylie Hutson did so in 2010 for Indiana State.

“This performance shows me I can be on top of my game when it really matters,” Gunnarsson said. “The weather wasn’t great so I didn’t jump as high as I could, so it proved to me that I can compete no matter the conditions. I’m glad I got the 10 points for our team as well.”

That was LSU’s only scoring event of the day and the rest of the action featured qualifiers to Saturday’s finals on the track. Tonea Marshall, Brittley Humphrey, and Milan Young represented the hurdles group in fine fashion as they all moved on. Marshall ran a time of 12.48 seconds in the 100 meter hurdles which goes down as the sixth fastest time in NCAA history. She already owns the fourth fastest time in NCAA history thanks to her 12.44 clocking from two weeks ago at NCAA East Prelims. The 12.48 was the fastest time run on the day and it goes down as the third fastest in meet history at the NCAA Championships.

Humphrey won her heat with a time of 56.56 in the 400 meter hurdles, and Young clocked a time of 57.45 in the same event to take second in her heat to earn a spot in Saturday’s finals. The final individual qualifier to Saturday’s finals for the women was Favour Ofili in the 200 meters as she clocked a time of 22.59.

The women’s 4×100 meter relay took second in their heat with a time of 43.03 and that easily qualified them for the finals on Saturday. The relay went Tonea Marshall, Favour Ofili, Symone Mason, and Thelma Davies.

With six of 21 events scored, the LSU women are in seventh place with 10 points thanks to Gunnarsson’s pole vault title. Georgia (20 pts) and Oregon (14 pts) are first and second in the standings.

Other Results

Symone Mason – 100 Meters – 11.39 – 9th

Emma Robbins – Hammer Throw – 216’ 4” (65.95m) – 14th

Amber Anning – 400 Meters – 52.36 – 14^th

Mercy Abire – Long Jump – 20’ 7.25” (6.28m) – 14th

Alia Armstrong – 100m Hurdles – 13.17 – 16th

Jurnee Woodward – 400m Hurdles – 58.47 – 17th

Aliyah Whisby – Long Jump – 19’ 11.75” (6.09m) – 19th

Women’s 4x400m Relay – Anning, Young, Phillips, Humphrey – 3:37.73 – 19th

Symone Mason – 200 Meters – 23.56 – 20th

Thelma Davies – 200 Meters – 23.80 – 22nd

Katy-Ann McDonald – 800 Meters – DQ

Up Next

The men will go for the team title on Friday. TV coverage will be carried live by ESPN2 from 7-9:30 p.m. CT.

Men’s Friday Competitors

JuVaughn Harrison – High Jump – 6:30 p.m. CT

Men’s 4x100m Relay – 7 p.m. CT

Sean Dixon-Bodie – Triple Jump – 7:20 p.m. CT

Damion Thomas – 110m Hurdles – 7:42 p.m. CT

Terrance Laird – 100 Meters – 7:52 p.m. CT

Noah Williams – 400 Meters – 8:02 p.m. CT

Sean Burrell – 400m Hurdles – 8:27 p.m. CT

Terrance Laird – 200 Meters – 8:37 p.m. CT

Friday | Saturday