FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The LSU track and field team worked out at the Randal Tyson Track Center for two hours on Thursday in a final tune-up before the NCAA Indoor Championships which run Friday and Saturday.
The Lady Tigers enter with the No. 1 ranking, while the Tigers moved up to a season high of No. 2 late Tuesday night, as LSU will attempt to become the first team to win both the men’s and women’s titles indoors in the same year. LSU is the only school to do it outdoors, having done so in both 1989 and 1990.
The Tigers are the defending champions in the men’s competition, while the Lady Tigers have won eight titles in their history and will be looking for their first since 1997.
“There is so little margin for error on either side that it will take a near perfect meet for someone to win,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “On the women’s side I think we’re definitely in the hunt although South Carolina and Florida will be very tough. We line up against them in several key races and the bottom line is that whoever comes out on top in those races will come out on top in the team standings.
“On the men’s side, Tennessee will be very tough to beat and Alabama comes here with a number of great scoring opportunities. We’ve got a very experienced team competing in Fayetteville this weekend and I think either title is up for grabs.”
The women will count heavily on its depth on the track from 60-800 meters.
They have five athletes ranked in the top five in the nation in that range and one ranked sixth. Muna Lee enters as the national leader in the 200-meter dash and ranks second in the 60.
Lolo Jones ranks fifth in the nation in the 60-meter hurdles, but her ability to get into the mix in the 60-meter dash where she ranks 15th might determine the Lady Tigers’ ability to hold of South Carolina and Florida.
“The teams that are successful in this event year in and year out get the unexpected points that end up making a huge difference,” added Henry. “Nothing ever goes to form at this meet, there are injuries, surprises and the team that adjusts to them best — in both team competitions — will win.”
Lee and Stephanie Durst give the Tigers a critical 1-2 punch in the 200-meter dash, as the two own the top pair of times in the nation. The event will be particularly critical, as South Carolina has four women qualified in the event putting the additional emphasis on Lee and Durst to match their point production.
In the 400-meter dash, Ronetta Smith ranks third and will once again give the Lady Tigers an opportunity to possibly cut into an event South Carolina has a stranglehold on. The 800-meter run will be important as well, as Marian Burnett ranks sixth in the nation in the event, but beat three of the athletes in front of her two weekends ago at the Tyson Center en route to winning the SEC title in the half-mile.
The Lady Tigers will need plenty of production in the triple jump with three of the top jumpers in the nation in the field. Nicole Toney and Bianca Rockett ranks second and third respectively while Andria Booker ranks eighth in what will be another huge event for LSU’s title hopes.
On the men’s side, the Tigers strengths are quite obvious ‘ the quarter-milers and the horizontal jumps.
Olympian Walter Davis won the triple jump and finished second in the long jump a year ago, scoring 18 of LSU’s 34 points en route to their first NCAA Indoor title and will need the same type of production again to give the Tigers a shot to defend their title this weekend. Davis enters with the top mark in the nation in the triple jump and ranks second in the long jump.
On the track, Alleyne Francique and Pete Coley lead the Tigers quarter-mile assault as the nation’s top two 400-meter threats. Francique shattered the NCAA record in the event with a time of 45.35 at the SEC Indoor meet two weeks ago, while Coley pushed him to the limit and finished second in 45.37. Francique and Coley also rank 1-2 in the world at the moment.
The dark horse in the event could Lueroy Colquhoun. While the senior enters ranked 14th in the nation, he was a fourth place finisher at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2000 and could provide an additional lift for the Tigers.
The trio will also join with Robert Parham to form the NCAA and world’s top ranked 4×400-meter relay team. The Tigers are the favorite to defend their title in the event.
Claston Bernard is two-time All-American outdoors in the decathlon, but Friday afternoon will make his first NCAA Indoor appearance, as he ranks 10th in the high jump.
Bernard’s competition kicks off the action for LSU athletes on Friday at 1:30 p.m. Also in action for the men will be Walter Davis in the long jump and the 400-meter prelims.
The Lady Tigers will have a busy day on Friday with prelims in the 60 and 400-meter dashes, the 800-meter run and prelims and finals of both the 60-meter hurdles and 200-meter dash.