BATON ROUGE — Both LSU’s men’s and women’s track teams have been picked to finish the season first at the NCAA Indoor Championships according to the Trackwire preseason Top 25 rankings, released Monday. LSU’s dual No. 1 rankings mark the first time a school has had both its men’s and women’s programs ranked No. 1 to begin the season.
“Rankings are what they are, a number on a piece of paper,” said LSU head track coach Pat Henry. “It’s great that we are being acknowledged for the tremendous athletes that we have, but at the same time I feel it is very difficult to rank teams at this time of the year.”
Trackwire selected the Tigers and Lady Tigers as its top preseason picks awarding both teams 59 points. Totals are based on the projected number of points each team is likely to score at the NCAA Championships. The SEC flooded the top five spots in both polls as Arkansas (48), Tennessee (36), South Carolina (29) and Stanford (25) sit atop the men’s standings, and South Carolina (48), Florida (41), UCLA (41) and Stanford (34) top the women’s ranks.
A year ago the Lady Tigers outscored UCLA 57-43 to win the NCAA Indoor crown. LSU returns 54 of the 57 points from that team, including national champions Muna Lee (200 meters), Nicole Toney (triple jump) and Marian Burnett (800 meters).
The men are coming off a national title of their own as they defeated Tennessee 64-57 to claim the NCAA Outdoor title. Top returnees from that squad include Bennie Brazell and Pete Coley. Brazell finished second in the 400-meter hurdles at the outdoor championships, while Coley finished third in the open quarter. Both excelled in the relays, as each ran on LSU’s national champion 4×100-meter relay team and the 4×400 relay team that finished third overall.
LSU’s indoor season begins Saturday when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark. for the SEC Four-Way. LSU then returns to Baton Rouge the following week to open the home schedule Sat., Jan. 18 with the Purple Tiger Invitational.
Men’s Trackwire Preseason Poll
Rank Team Score
1 LSU 59
2 Arkansas 48
3 Tennessee 36
4 South Carolina 29
t5 Stanford 25
t5 Villanova 25
t7 TCU 22
t7 Alabama 22
9 Auburn 20
t10 Mississippi State 18
t10 Florida 18
12 Missouri 17
13 Wisconsin 16
14 Wichita State 14
15 Texas 13
16 Indiana 12
17 Purdue 11
t18 Baylor 10
t18 Texas A&M 10
t18 UCLA 10
t18 Washington 10
t18 Nebraska 10
t18 Manhattan 10
t24 Georgia 9
t24 Mississippi 9
t24 Texas Tech 9
t24 Michigan 9
Women’s Trackwire Preseason Poll
Rank Team Score
1 LSU 59
2 South Carolina 48
t3 Florida 41
t3 UCLA 41
5 Stanford 34
6 North Carolina 32
7 Texas 30
t8 Indiana 25
t8 Rice 25
10 Auburn 22
11 BYU 18
12 Nebraska 16
13 Colorado 15
t14 Washington State 14
t14 Arizona State 14
16 Illinois 13
t17 Notre Dame 10
t17 Iowa State 10
t17 Arizona 10
t20 Tennessee 9
t20 Kentucky 9
t22 Minnesota 8
t22 North Carolina State 8
t22 Oregon 8
25 Georgia Tech 7