BATON ROUGE — In an attempt to promote the team aspect of the sport of track and field, the LSU track and field team will join forces with 14 other top-level programs for the first-ever USTCA National Championships on Friday and Saturday at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
The top five teams in the nation will be on hand in the women’s competition, while 10 of the top 25 teams in the nation will compete in the men’s competition.
“This is the first time for the United States Track and Field Coaches Association to sponsor a team championship,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “This is something that track and field coaches throughout the country have lobbied for and it is certainly something that will benefit our sport. When you look at teams involved, the opportunity is there to do some great things and learn a little bit about where you match up with some of the top teams.”
Joining the No.1-ranked Lady Tigers will be second-ranked Texas, co-No.3s UCLA and South Carolina and fifth-ranked USC. The men’s competition will be highlighted by fourth-ranked USC, the sixth-ranked Tigers, ninth-ranked Florida and No. 10 Tennessee.
It marks LSU’s second trip to Austin in three weeks. At the Texas Relays two weeks ago Keisha Spencer broke the Mike A. Myers Stadium, meet and LSU records with a leap of 45-10. Spencer has broken stadium records each of the past three weeks, most recently breaking the Bernie Moore Stadium record at the LSU Alumni Gold Relays in Baton Rouge last weekend.
Russ Buller seized the national lead in the pole vault with a clearance of 18-8 3/4 at the Texas Relays two weeks ago and will look for similar results this weekend as he renews his rivalry with nemesis Jacob Davis of Texas. Buller has cleared no less than 18-4 3/4 in his last three outings and broke his own Bernie Moore Stadium record last weekend with a clearance of 18-6 3/4 at the LSU Alumni Gold Relays.
The women’s 4×100-meter relay will be one of the featured events of the competition, as the top three relays in the nation will be on display. USC leads the nation, with LSU second and Texas third. The Lady Tigers will be looking to avenge a defeat at the hands of Texas two weeks ago in Austin. A change on the Lady Tigers’ relay last weekend, moving Joyce Bates to the leadoff leg helped them to a season-best 43.91 and gives them momentum heading into this weekend.
Peta-Gaye Dowdie will look to pick up where she left off last weekend. The senior All-American ran the fastest legal time in the NCAA this year in the 100-meter dash with a blistering 11.21 in Baton Rouge last weekend in addition to anchoring the Lady Tigers’ 4×100-meter relay. Dowdie will run her first 200-meter dash this weekend, an event she finished the indoor season ranked fifth in the world this year.
Since finishing second in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships, Joyce Bates has been on a tear. She is a perfect 4-0 in the 100-meter hurdles including an impressive wind-aided 12.82 to win the Texas Relays title two weeks ago. Bates will face a similar field in Austin this weekend with further hopes of cementing her place as one of the favorites for the NCAA title in June.
The point scoring system for the USTCA National Championship will be the same as an NCAA Championship with the top eight finishers scoring. Each university may only score a maximum of two athletes per event, however, a far cry from the NCAA system that allows teams to dominate three or four events and win a title.
“It’s a far different format and one that really encourages everyone to put together a complete team, not just put their emphasis on one specific area,” said Henry. “In order to be successful at this meet you have to have strong balance between your sprints, jumps, throws and distance and that is definitely a step in the right direction for this sport.”
Following the USTCA National Championship, LSU travels to venerable Franklin Field in Philadelphia for the 106th running of the Penn Relay Carnival, the final outing before the SEC Outdoor Championships come to Baton Rouge from May 11-14.