BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field team takes to the road for the third consecutive week when the second-ranked Tigers and second-ranked Lady Tigers travel to Tempe, Ariz., for the Sun Angel Classic on Saturday.
The Sun Angel Classic will feature a mix of top-level collegiate teams as well as prominent high school athletes. Collegiate teams expected to compete include host-Arizona State, Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Arizona, Texas, Southern California, BYU and Colorado State.
“This is a great field and a very good facility,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “The atmosphere at Arizona State should enable us to come up with a productive weekend. We’re at that time of the season where we need to turn it up another notch. The SEC Championships are closer than they look and we’ve got to start to mentally prepare for the bigger meets ahead on our schedule.”
LSU will be making its first trip to the desert since 1998. With only three meets remaining before the SEC Championships, the need for a productive outing becomes even more critical.
For the Lady Tigers, it will be there first opportunity to go head-to-head with No. 1 Southern California, pitting a match-up of the last two NCAA champions. LSU won in 2000, while the Lady Trojans took the 2001 crown.
The competition will be the first head-to-head encounter for such critical NCAA battles as LSU’s relays and sprinters against USC’s.
NCAA Indoor 200-meter champion Muna Lee will lineup in the deuce against three-time NCAA 100-meter champion Angela Williams and All-American Kinshasa Davis, both of USC.
On the men’s side, NCAA 400-meter runner-up Pete Coley will headline the field in the quarter and will look to post a fast time in a potentially very fast field. Lueroy Colquhoun and Bennie Brazell will look to continue their recent trend of success in the 400-meter hurdles and will be among the top names in a loaded field.
Olympian Walter Davis is also scheduled to make his outdoor debut in the triple jump. Davis was set to make his debut in the event last weekend at the Texas Relays but withdrew due to tightness and unfavorable weather conditions.
Following the Sun Angel Classic, LSU returns to Bernie Moore Track Stadium for its final home meet before hosting the NCAA Outdoor Championships next month. The LSU Team Invitational will be help at Bernie Moore Stadium on Friday and Saturday and will feature several of the top teams in the nation.