BATON ROUGE — The top-ranked LSU men’s track and field team and sixth-ranked Lady Tigers return home after three straight weekends on the road to host their final major home competition of the 2001 season on Saturday, the LSU Alumni Gold Relays. Field events get underway at Bernie Moore Track Stadium at 10 a.m., while track events start at 1:30 p.m.
LSU welcomes a field that includes SEC rivals Alabama and Ole Miss, as well as the Texas men’s squad, while also bringing in a majority of the top Louisiana schools including Tulane, Louisiana-Lafayette, New Orleans and Northwestern State.
“We’re coming off three very demanding road meets in which we’ve been able to accomplish a great deal,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “This is a very important meet, however, as with only three meets remaining before the SEC Championships and it’s an opportunity to get some things done on a great track – our track.
“We’re not going to over do it, we don’t want anyone injured this close to the SEC meet, but we’re going to line everyone up and get after it on Saturday.”
Two events figure to stand out in the men’s competition, as the nation’s top three long jumpers will be on hand, while the Tigers will let their quarter milers loose in individual competition.
NCAA long jump champion Savante Stringfellow of Ole Miss headlines what figures to be one of the hottest events of the day, as he will be challenged by NCAA runner-up Walter Davis of LSU and Miguel Pate of Alabama.
Stringfellow won the Texas Relays last weekend with a jump of 27 feet 6 1/2 inches, while Davis finished second with a mark of 26-9. Pate ranks second in the nation in the event currently with a mark of 27-1 1/2.
On the track, the Tigers will run All-Americans Alleyne Francique and Lueroy Colquhoun in the open 400-meter dash in an effort to get them both automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships. Francique ranks seventh in the nation with a provisional time of 46.05 seconds, while Colquhoun has yet to register an NCAA qualifier.
On the women’s side, Muna Lee will look to move up the NCAA list in the 100-meter dash while reaching the automatic standard, as will All-American Sa’Donna Thornton. The two rank eighth and ninth in the nation with times of 11.36 and 11.39 respectively.
Elsewhere on the track, Myra Combs and Stephanie Durst, who join with Lee and Thornton to form the nation’s top-ranked 4×100-meter relay, will both open up in the 200-meter dash. Combs is a two-time qualifier in the event while Durst just missed qualifying this past indoor season.
As its name would indicate, the LSU Alumni Gold Relays will also bring together many of LSU’s most successful athletes of its storied past.
Scheduled to compete on Saturday are former LSU national champions Russ Buller, Rohsaan Griffin, Glenroy Gilbert, Debbie Parris and Joyce Bates, as well as former All-American Derrick Brew.
Following the Alumni Gold Relays, LSU returns to Austin, Texas next weekend for the USTCA National Championships before heading to the 107th running of the Penn Relays the following weekend.