Two LSU track and field stars continued their record setting ways this weekend.
Claudio Romero and Michaela Rose both set career-best marks and put up some of the best numbers in the nation. Their two wins were the only events LSU track and field won this weekend.
Romero is a fifth-year senior from Santiago, Chile and was just a week removed from winning the Chilean Championships’ discus-throw title when he took gold at the Tom Jones invitational on Saturday. His throw of 64.96 meters is the top in the nation and is the second-best mark in LSU history.
Romero was the 2017 World Youth Champion as well as a 2019 Pan American U20 Champion in the discus before starting his college career at Virginia. His first season in college was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He took home All-ACC honors during the 2021 indoor season before really showing his talent in the outdoor season. He earned first-team All-America honors and finished third at the NCAA Championships and set a Virginia school-record with a throw of 65.78 meters. He also claimed the ACC title in discus.
In 2022, he won the NCAA discuss title by two centimeters when he posted a throw of 66.17 meters. He finished the season undefeated with nine wins and set and ACC Championships record in discus en route to winning his second ACC title.
He transferred to LSU ahead of the 2023 season already as a national champion and All-American. Last season he finished fourth at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, but this year he is looking to claim his second title and his first in purple and gold.
Michaela Rose, last season’s indoor and outdoor national champion in the 800 meters, started her outdoor season with a blistering time of 1:58.37 in the women’s 800 meter to take first place in the event at the Bryan Clay Invitational. She’s now just the second woman in NCAA history to record a time under the 1:59 mark. The only better time in collegiate history came when Texas A&M’s Athing Mu ran a 1:57.73 in 2021.
Rose is the only runner in the nation to break two minutes this season. Her previous outdoor best came when she set the LSU record with a 1:59.08 last April. Rose also holds the collegiate record in the 600-yard with a time of 1:25.75.
LSU track and field is now back in Baton Rouge for a two-week stretch of home meets.
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