PHILADELPHIA — The LSU track and field teams are set to compete in the prestigious Penn Relays this weekend as both the second-ranked Lady Tigers and the sixth-ranked Tigers face off against some of the nation’s premier athletes beginning Thursday morning at the venerable Franklin Field here in Philadelphia, Pa.
LSU will begin the famed track and field competition on Thursday at 11:40 a.m. (CDT) as the Lady Tigers’ 4×100 relay team comprised of Stephanie Durst, Muna Lee, Lolo Jones and Monique Hall is scheduled to participate in a qualifying heat of the event. LSU’s 4×100 relay team is currently ranked No. 1 in the nation after registering a season-high time of 42.63 at the Texas Relays.
The Lady Tigers’ 4×400 relay team consisting of Nadia Davy, Althea Thomas, Neisha Bernard-Thomas and Hazelann Regis will compete in the evening session on Thursday as the race will close out LSU’s portion of events on the opening day of the Penn Relays. At the Mt. SAC relays last week, the Lady Tigers’ quartet of Bernard-Thomas, Hall, Davy and Regis recorded LSU’s third-best time in school history with a mark of 3:29.39.
In the field events, LSU’s LaToya Payne will attempt to win her second-straight long jump competition on Thursday.
Last week, the Lady Tigers’ sophomore from Killeen, Texas, placed first in the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational held at the Strehle Track in Claremont, Calif. Payne, who holds LSU’s top outdoor mark this season with a length of 20-7 3/4, registered a distance of 20-3 1/2 to take the first-place title at the Mt. SAC relays.
The Penn Relays, which places a primary emphasis on its relay competitions and field events, has been a haven for the LSU track teams over the years as either the Tigers or Lady Tigers have won at least one relay in each of the last 12 seasons. During the 2002 Penn Relays, LSU won the title in the spring medley relay with a time of 3:47.48.
LSU’s Kelly Willie, who anchored the Tigers to the national title in the 4×400-meter relay (3:04.79) during the indoor season, is looking to add to his phenomenal freshman season with an array of top performances at the Penn Relays. Willie, a native of Houston, Texas, earned All-America honors in the fall and is scheduled to compete in three relay events over the course of the weekend.
The 109th-annual Penn Relays is scheduled to begin on Thursday, April 24, as the collegiate competition will begin 9 a.m. (CDT) at the venerable Franklin Field on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania here in Philadelphia.