BATON ROUGE — The No. 1 ranked LSU men’s track and field team and seventh-ranked Lady Tigers head to the University of Houston this Saturday for the Tom Tellez Invitational, featuring track powers Baylor, Texas, Texas A&M and Illinois.
“This is an extremely competitive meet this weekend,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “I think we should make tremendous strides this weekend due to the level of competition. This is an opportunity for us to get a lot done, it’s a great field and it’s a great meet to be going to this early in the outdoor season.”
Following a pair of encouraging performances to open the outdoor season, LSU will open things up more this weekend with the Texas Relays just a week away.
The highlight of the competition could well be a rematch of nation’s two premier 4×400-meter relay teams, as LSU will run its NCAA Champion squad against runner-up Baylor. LSU edged Baylor at the NCAA Indoor Championships to win the national title in the event and clinch the team competition in an event that produced the fastest time in the world for the 2001 indoor season and the sixth fastest time in history.
NCAA triple jump champion Walter Davis will make his outdoor debut and set up a possible rematch of the NCAA Indoor Championships, as runner-up Chris Hercules of Texas will likely be in the field as well.
Despite running well in its first two outings, LSU will mix up its order on the 4×100-meter relay this weekend before heading to next weekend’s Texas Relays. Robert Parham of the Tigers’ record-setting 4×400-meter relay will be inserted on the short relay this weekend in place of Dwhyte Barrett.
On the women’s side, the Lady Tigers will sick with the formula that has been successful for them through the early stages of the outdoor season.
SEC Women’s Track and Field Athlete of the Week Ronetta Smith will look to continue her hot streak on Saturday, a week after posting a national-leading time of 52.23 in the 400-meter dash. The junior All-American will also help the Lady Tigers 4×400-meter relay in what will be a very solid field.
A week after falling in the 100-meter hurdles, freshman Lolo Jones will look to rebound and join the national leaders in the event, while NCAA 200-meter leader Muna Lee will make her 100-meter debut on Saturday.
Following the Tom Tellez Invitational, LSU heads to the 74th running of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas next Thursday through Saturday.