BATON ROUGE — LSU’s track and field team will take on the best in the conference this weekend when it travels to Fayetteville, Ark., for the SEC Indoor Championships at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
The three-day meet will begin Friday will the women’s pentathlon and the first day on the men’s heptathlon competition. Action will continue Saturday and Sunday with the remainder of the field and running events.
The Tiger and Lady Tigers will take an extremely talented, but relatively young and inexperienced group into this year’s championship meet as nearly 20 members of the travel roster will be making their inaugural appearance at the conference meet.
“The first SEC meet can be a little overwhelming,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “The intensity of this meet and the quality of competition is as good as you’ll find anywhere in the country. I’m excited to see how this group responds to that type of competitive environment.”
The Lady Tigers will look to a pair of seniors to help guide a youthful squad that seeks to match, if not better, their third-place team finish from a year ago.
“While we are young on the women’s side you can’t overlook the experience of Hazel (Regis) and Neisha (Bernard-Thomas),” said Shaver.
The duo has combined to win two NCAA titles and 13 All-America awards in their two seasons in Baton Rouge. They are each expected to challenge for individual SEC titles this weekend.
Regis enters the meet as the two-time defending champion in the 400 meters. However, she will sit out her signature race this time around and test out the waters in the 200 meters, an event in which she owns the third fastest time in the country this season (23.37).
Bernard-Thomas, who is ranked No. 2 nationally in the 800 meters, enters the meet having posted the nation’s third-best time in the event this year (2:05.09).
Both are also key members on the Lady Tigers’ top-ranked 4×400-meter relay team that will be eyeing a second straight conference title Sunday.
The Tigers, who finished fourth at the conference championships a year ago, return to the meet with slightly more experience than the women’s squad, but will still be depending on a pool of newcomers in their quest for a finish near the top of the standings.
“The men are healthy and well prepared heading into these championships,” said Shaver. “They are not as strong in the field events this year, but I think there are places on the track where we can score that we didn’t last year.”
Two of LSU’s most talented sprinters, Olympian Kelly Willie and freshman standout Xavier Carter, should provide the Tigers with ample scoring opportunities on the track.
Willie is the reigning SEC champion in the 400 meters, but will drop down and run both the 60 and 200-meter dashes with Carter.
Both have been sensational in the short sprints to date. Willie established a new school record in the 60 (6.69) and has clocked one of the nation’s top-10 200 meter times.
Carter, set a school record of his own, clocking a sizzling 20.67 in his only 200 meter race of the season.
The duo will also be key to the Tigers’ success in the 4×400 relay, an event in which they will be seeking their fifth conference title in six years.
Action from the SEC Indoor Championships kicks off tomorrow at 4 p.m.