BATON ROUGE — Seven All-Americans are among the 12 athletes and two relay teams that the LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams have combined to qualify to the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., March 11-12.
The Lady Tigers, who enter the meet as the three-time defending national champions, will rely on seven athletes and its 4×400-meter relay in its quest for a fourth straight NCAA Indoor crown.
“All the teams that are in contention for women’s title, ourselves included, will be relying heavily on freshmen,” said Shaver. “I think that the freshmen that perform equal to or better than what got them into the meet will be a big factor in the final outcome.
“I do like the position our women are in,” added Shaver. “We are running head to head with competitors on each of the top teams. I feel like we control our own destiny.”
Because of their overall youth, the Lady Tigers will lean heavily on the senior leadership of Hazelann Regis and Neisha Bernard-Thomas as the group goes for the program’s 12 indoor national championship.
Regis, a native of St. Andrews, Grenada, will be one of two Lady Tigers doubling at the national meet as she is set compete in both the 200 and 400 meters.
The seven-time All-American is undefeated in both open races this season. She is coming off a SEC title in the 200 meters where she posted the nation’s top time this year (23.02). Regis also owns the second best mark in the NCAA in the 400 meters (51.62).
Bernard-Thomas enters the NCAA Indoor meet seeking a second national title in the 800 meters, one to match the title she earned at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last June. Bernard-Thomas is currently ranked third in the country in the event with a season-best effort of 2:04.42.
Both Regis and Bernard-Thomas will be key contributors on the Lady Tigers’ 4×400-meter relay team that has posted the second fastest time in the world this season. Freshman Brooklyn Morris and Deonna Lawrence will fill the remaining two spots on the relay squad that recently won the SEC title in meet and school record time (3:29.06).
Lawrence will also get her first experience at the NCAA Championships in an open race, joining Regis in the 400 meters. The Elk Grove, Calif. native enters the meet with the 13th fastest time in the event this season (53.30).
Other freshmen getting their feet wet at the national level will be Kelly Baptiste and Ashley Owens. Baptiste will run in both the 60 and 200-meter dashes, while Owens will compete in the 60 meters.
Senior RaNysha LeBlanc will be the Lady Tigers lone representative in the 60-meter hurdles after posting a personal best time of 8.18 at the NCAA Qualifiers last weekend. This weekend’s appearance will mark LeBlanc’s third at the indoor nationals.
In the field, LSU will look to sophomore Tina Harris to score some additional points for the Lady Tiger squad. Harris will be eyeing the second All-America honor of her career in the long jump, after earning the distinction during the outdoor season as a freshman.
In the men’s team race, LSU will depend on its five individual qualifiers as well as its 4×400-meter relay team for its scoring opportunities.
“The group of men going to the NCAA meet this year don’t have as many scoring opportunities as last year,” said Shaver. “The reality of the situation is that everyone needs to perform equal to or above the level that got them to the meet. I do feel like there are five teams that have the quantity and quality of athletes it takes to win the meet and I believe we are among them.”
The Tigers will look to Olympic gold medalist Kelly Willie and freshman standout Xavier Carter for a large portion of the team’s scoring.
Willie will run in the 400 meters after spending most of the indoor season prepping with 60 and 200 meter races. The three-time national champion and eight-time All-American has run just one open quarter race this year, but still owns the sixth fastest time in the NCAA to date (46.18).
Carter, an automatic qualifier in the 200 meters, has shattered the school record in the event three times this season, last clocking a personal-best and world junior record of 20.39 at the SEC Championships.
Senior Pete Coley will also be on the track for LSU. The Tigers’ all-time All-America awards leader, will look to add to his 11 accolades in the 400 meters. Coley, who last earned All-America honors in the open quarter in 2002, enters the meet having posted a season-best time of 46.62.
Willie, Carter and Coley will join with 10-time All-American Bennie Brazell in the 4×400-meter relay. LSU has posted a season-best time of 3:04.90 in the event, a mark that ranks as the sixth-fastest in the country this season.
Also on the track will be half-miler Jeffrey Fisher. The senior from Marrero will be competing in the first NCAA Championship of his career. Fisher comes into the meet with the NCAA’s 10th fastest time in the 800 meters this season after clocking a school record time of 1:47.84 at last week’s NCAA Qualifiers.
On the field, the Tigers will be represented by senior Willie Bradley. The two-time All-American from Hoover, Ala. finished third in the triple jump at last year’s indoor championships. He enters this year’s meet with the sixth best distance to date (52-4 3/4).
Action from the Randal Tyson Track Center and the NCAA Indoor Championships is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Friday.