BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field team will compete for the final time before hosting the SEC Outdoor Championships from May 11-14 this weekend at the 106th running of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field in Philadelphia.
With a majority of its expected athletes qualified for the NCAA Championships already, the emphasis this weekend will be on relays and a number of events not ordinarily contested at the NCAA level.
“This is as good as it gets in track and field in America,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “The emphasis is on relays with a handful of individual events. It’s our last opportunity to get some work in with a competitive field before the SEC Championships and it’s our last chance to see some of the premier non-conference teams before the NCAA Championships.”
The Lady Tigers are defending champions in the shuttle hurdle relay and the 4×200-meter relay. Three members of the shuttle hurdle relay team return, as Philadelphia native Joyce Bates, April Sams and Loren Leaverton will attempt to bring the Lady Tigers their four title in the event in 10 years.
Peta-Gaye Dowdie and Myra Combs return to the Lady Tigers’ 4×200-meter relay. An event long dominated by LSU, the Lady Tigers will be searching for their sixth 4×200-meter relay title in the last seven years.
The Tigers will be right in the thick of things in the relays as well. The men’s 4×100-meter relay ranks eighth in the nation, while the 4×400-meter relay ranks sixth.
Individually, Bates will look for a successful homecoming in the 100-meter hurdles. The senior All-American is undefeated outdoors with a 5-0 mark and owns the NCAA lead with a wind-aided time of 12.79. The time ranks second in the world under all conditions.
Dowdie will attempt to win her second Penn Relays 100-meter title. Dowdie won the event in 1998 as a sophomore and can become only the second Lady Tiger to ever win the event twice at Penn, joining Cheryl Taplin who won back-to-back titles in 1993 and 1994.
If the wind is not a factor, Keisha Spencer could be gunning for her fourth stadium record in five weeks. Spencer will take aim on the Penn Relays triple jump record of 45-10 1/2 set by fellow Jamaican Trecia Smith of Pittsburgh in 1997. Spencer has jumped better than 46-feet in each of her last two outings. She can become the first Lady Tiger since Suzette Lee in 1996 to win the title at Penn.
Russ Buller will look to keep his hot streak alive this weekend and win his second Penn Relays pole vault title in the process. Buller won the title as a freshman in 1997 and has cleared at least 18-4 3/4 in each of his last four outings. His mark of 18-8 3/4 at the Texas Relays three weeks ago still stands as the top mark in the NCAA to date and the seventh best in the world this year.
Following the Penn Relays, LSU will take next weekend off to prepare for the SEC Outdoor Championships from May 11-14. Bernie Moore Track Stadium will serve as the host site for the first time since 1991. The Lady Tigers finished third at the SEC Outdoor meet in Athens, Ga., a year ago, while the Tigers placed sixth.