BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field team will open its 2001 season at home on Saturday, as LSU welcomes Alabama, Auburn and Mississippi State to the Carl Maddox Field House for the SEC Quadrangular, a scored competition. The SEC Quadrangular gets underway with throwing events at 11 a.m. and track events at 2 p.m.
The men’s competition features three of the top 11 teams in the nation, as Alabama enters ranked fourth, while LSU is fifth and Auburn 11th. The Lady Tigers head the list of ranked teams in the women’s competition, as the hold the 19th spot while Auburn currently sits 23rd.
“It’s a very tough competition to open the season, there are some quality programs on hand,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry who begins his 14th season in Baton Rouge. “It’s tough to open with this level of competition because everyone is anxious to get out there and you have to keep them in the perspective that it is the first meet of the year. We’ll use everyone on Saturday but we won’t overuse them.”
Perhaps the most intriguing event of the competition will be the men’s long jump. Marcus Thomas of LSU was the SEC Indoor champion a year ago and finished third at the NCAA Outdoor Championships and fourth indoors. Miguel Pate of Alabama, a Louisiana native, finished third at the NCAA Indoor Championships and fifth at the NCAA Outdoor meet and finished one spot ahead of Thomas at the SEC Outdoor meet.
The two renew their rivalry but add LSU newcomer Walter Davis to the mix. Davis makes his LSU debut on Saturday with unbelievable credentials on his resume. Davis comes to Baton Rouge as the Junior College national champion in both the long and triple jumps and competed at the Olympics in Sydney this past September, where he finished 11th in the triple jump.
LSU and Auburn figure to have two of the premier mile relays in the nation and will go head to head in the event on Saturday. LSU won the SEC Indoor title a year ago while Auburn returns NCAA 400-meter champion Avard Moncur and SEC Indoor champion Sanjay Ayre. LSU will counter with SEC Indoor runner-up Lueroy Colquhoun and Alleyne Francique, the Junior College national champion in the 400-meter dash, who makes his LSU debut on Saturday.
The men’s 60-meter hurdles figures to be a competitive race as well, pitting two of the premier hurdlers in the SEC. Ron Bramlett of Alabama finished third at the 2000 NCAA Indoor Championships and second at the SEC Outdoor Championships, one spot ahead of LSU’s Greg Scott, a junior from Gonzales who has finished third at each of the last two SEC Outdoor meets.
In the distance events, the premier distance runner in the nation, David Kimani of Alabama, will be on hand to compete in the mile.
The women’s competition will feature a number of key returnees for the Lady Tigers making their 2001 debuts. Sa’Donna Thornton, an All-American in the 60-meter dash a year ago, headlines the women’s field in the short sprint.
Thornton clocked a time of 7.25 seconds a year ago, the 10th fastest time ever by an American collegian.
NCAA Indoor qualifiers from 2000, Myra Combs and Chenelle Marshall, will open up in the long jump, as will NCAA Indoor and Outdoor triple jump qualifier Bianca Rockett and NCAA hurdles qualifier April Sams.
The Lady Tigers have a Junior College national champion of their own making an LSU debut, as Ronetta Smith, a product of Essex County College (N.J.) will make her 400-meter debut and will run on the mile relay.
Following the SEC Quadrangular meet, LSU remains at home next weekend for the Purple Tiger Invitational, a meet annually attended by a majority of the top Louisiana schools.