BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field team will kick off its 2002 season on Friday at the SEC Six-Way in Fayetteville, Ark., as the third-ranked Tigers and fourth-ranked Lady Tigers compete on the same track that will host both the SEC and NCAA Indoor Championships.
LSU will take on SEC rivals Arkansas, Alabama, Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt as the notably fast Randal Tyson Track Center.
“Practice gets old after awhile, we’re ready to step on the track and see someone else,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “This is the first step for us this season, hopefully in the right direction. We’re going to compete just about everyone. We’re not going to double anyone, however. This will be a good test for us heading into our home opener next weekend.”
NCAA triple jump champion Walter Davis will open up in his signature event on the same runway he won the national indoor title a year ago. Davis will wait until next weekend to open in the long jump, however.
The Tiger 4×400-meter relay will return to the site of its greatest triumph and look to set the tone early in the 2002 season as the nation’s premier mile relay. The Tigers clinched the NCAA team title a year ago with a victory in the 4×400-meter relay at the Tyson Center.
LSU will run the foursome of Lueroy Colquhoun, Pete Coley, Robert Parham and Alleyne Francique on Friday evening.
“We’d like to get them started early,” added Henry. “None of them will run in open events this weekend. This is a great track to run on and I think we can put together a good early season time and set the tone for the rest of the year.”
Muna Lee will make her 2002 debut this weekend for the Lady Tigers, however, not at the 200-meter distance that she earned All-America honors indoors last year, rather, she will open in the 60-meter dash.
Ronetta Smith, a fourth place finisher indoors at the NCAA Indoor meet last year, will open in the 400-meter dash, while returning 60-meter hurdles All-American Lolo Jones will open up in her signature event.
After Friday’s competition, LSU will set its sites on its 2002 home opener next Saturday, when over 20 teams are expected to come to the Carl Maddox Field House for the LSU Purple Tiger Invitational.