BATON ROUGE- In a move fitting of the rivalry that has dominated women’s track and field for better than a decade, LSU and Texas share the No. 1 spot in the nation in the Trackwire preseason indoor Top 25 released on Tuesday. The two schools have combined to win the last seven NCAA indoor titles.
“We’re always pleased to gain that kind of respect,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “A lot of it has to do with expectations and we’ve been fortunate enough to be successful and build those expectations. It’s early, though, it’s just the beginning of the year and a lot can happen between now and March so we’ll have to see how the season plays out.”
The Tigers find themselves in the ninth spot in the men’s preseason poll.
The Lady Tigers, who were also ranked No. 1 by Sports Illustrated for Women, will be looking to regain the NCAA indoor title they held eight times between 1987-97. After winning five straight titles from 1993-97, the Lady Tigers have been runners-up to Texas at each of the past two NCAA Indoor Championships.
UCLA ranks third in the women’s poll, followed by South Carolina and Arkansas to round out the top five. BYU, Wisconsin, Nebraska, SMU and Ohio State round out the top 10.
The Lady Tigers return 10 All-Americans and three national champions from last year’s team that finished second in the nation indoors and fifth outdoors.
Arkansas, winners of 15 of the last 16 NCAA Indoor titles, finds itself on top of the men’s rankings with Stanford a close second. Auburn, Florida and Texas round out the top five.
SMU ranks sixth followed by Clemson, Arizona State, LSU and Washington State.
The Tigers return four All-Americans from last year’s squad that finished seventh in the nation indoors and ninth outdoors.
Both the men’s and women’s teams open their 2000 seasons on Saturday at the LSU Purple Tiger at the Field House. Field events get underway at 1 p.m. with track events starting at 3:30 p.m.