BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field team will compete in a world class field on Friday and Saturday, as the sixth-ranked Tigers and ninth-ranked Lady Tigers head to Fayetteville, Ark., for the Tyson Invitational.
The meet is a USA Track and Field Golden Spikes event and will air on ESPN on a tape-delayed basis on Feb. 15 from 6-7 p.m. CT.
On hand will be a majority of the premier track and field teams in the nation, giving the meet an early NCAA Indoor Championship feel, as the meet will be contested at the Randal Tyson Track Center, the site of next month’s national meet. In addition to collegiate athletes, the meet will also feature a number of elite level athletes comprised on numerous professionals in the jumps, sprints and distance events.
“This is a tremendous competition across the board,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “To be able to run in this kind of field and at the same location as the national championships is a big bonus. As young a team as we are, this is an important competition. We’ll see how we respond to being with the nation and world’s best athletes. Hopefully we can continue to build upon a nice start to our season.
“The added significance of this meet is that the SEC Indoor Championships are only two weeks away and for a number of our athletes, this will be their final competition before the SEC meet.”
Seven of the top 10 teams in the men’s top 25 will be on hand, highlighted by Co-No. 1s Arkansas and TCU, while six of the top 10 women’s teams will be on hand led by the top three teams, South Carolina, Arkansas and Clemson.
LSU is coming off a breakout performance at Florida last weekend where the Tigers and Lady Tigers combined to register 10 NCAA qualifying marks.
Muna Lee will look to continue the hot streak that saw her take the national lead in the 200-meter dash with her winning time at Florida last weekend, while moving to fourth in the nation on the 60-meter list. For her performance, Lee was honored as the Southeastern Conference’s women’s track and field Athlete of the Week.
Walter Davis will be reunited with NCAA long jump leader Savante Stringfellow of Ole Miss again this weekend. The two locked up in a classic duel won by Stringfellow a week ago, while LSU’s Marcus Thomas returns to the site of his SEC Indoor long jump victory a year ago. Davis and Stringfellow will compete in the elite long jump while Thomas will compete in the collegiate division.
Davis and Thomas will both double and will add to an already loaded field in the triple jump.
LSU’s quarter milers will have a good opportunity to improve upon last weekend’s performances when they hit the Tyson Center’s banked track this weekend. Alleyne Francique posted an NCAA provisional qualifying time in the 400-meter dash last weekend, as did Ronetta Smith in the women’s quarter.
Lueroy Colquhoun returns to a track he knows very well and will look to register an NCAA qualifier in the 400-meter dash this weekend. Colquhoun finished second at the SEC Championships and fourth at the NCAA Championships on the same track a year ago and ran the two fastest times of his career in Fayetteville.
LSU’s Likhaya Dayile will look to match strides with Arkansas’ top distance runners in the 5,000-meter run in what figures to be a very fast pace and an opportunity for the junior to register an NCAA qualifying mark.
Former LSU standouts on hand for the elite competition on Saturday include a trio of NCAA champions, as 1996 NCAA 200-meter champion Rohsaan Griffin heads the field in the deuce, while 2000 pole vault champion Russ Buller will be on hand, as will two-time hurdles national champion Joyce Bates.
Following the Tyson Invitational, both teams return home for the LSU Twilight on Friday evening, LSU?s final tune-up before heading to the University of Kentucky for the SEC Indoor Championships on Feb. 24-25.