BATON ROUGE — The summer track season gets underway for several LSU track and field athletes as they make their way to Carson, Calif., for the USA Championships this Thursday through Sunday at the Home Depot Center.
Current Tiger standouts Xavier Carter and Kelly Willie highlight a group of 12 athletes with LSU ties that will all be vying for a spot on the United States’ World Championships team.
Athletes can qualify for the World Championships, which are scheduled for Aug. 5-14 in Helsinki, Finland, by virtue of a third-place or higher finish in their individual event. In addition, athletes that place in the top six in either 100 or 400 meters will be considered for the relay pool in the 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays, respectively.
Carter is scheduled to compete in the 200 meters, an event in which he placed second at the NCAA Outdoor Championships two weeks ago. He enters the meet having posted the fourth-fastest time in the United States and the world this season (20.02).
Willie will take to the track in the 400 meters. The 14-time All-American finished seventh in the event at last year’s Olympic Trials and comes into the competition having posted the country’s eighth fastest time this season (44.97).
Joining Willie in the open quarter will be former Tiger Derrick Brew. Brew was the 2004 Olympic bronze medalist in the event and won gold as a part of the Tigers’ 4×400-meter relay team.
Also on the oval will be recently departed senior Bennie Brazell. Brazell, a five-time NCAA champion and 14-time All-American while at LSU, will participate in the 400-meter hurdles, an event in which he owns the world’s third-best this year (47.67).
On the women’s side, current Lady Tiger and All-SEC performer Tanya Osbourne will see action in the 800 meters.
Former Tiger greats Muna Lee, Stephanie Durst and Lolo Jones will take their turns in the short sprints and hurdles.
Lee, who completed her eligibility last spring as the most decorated track and field athlete in LSU history, will participate in both the 100 and 200 meters.
Durst and Jones, both multiple time national champions and All-Americans for the Lady Tigers, will see action in the 200 and the 100 hurdles, respectively.
LSU will have four former greats representing the Tigers in the field events.
The 2004 Olympic silver medalist, John Moffitt, is scheduled to compete in the long jump, while two-time Olympian Walter Davis is slated for action in both the long jump and the triple jump. Marcus Thomas will also be in the triple jump and Russ Buller will compete in the pole vault.
In conjunction with the USA Championships, the United States’ Junior National Championships will also be held in Carson this week.
Freshmen Deonna Lawrence and Amanda Harmata will compete in the 400 meters and javelin, respectively.
Lawrence, an NCAA qualifier in the open quarter as a freshman, earned All-American honors as a member of the indoor 4×400-meter relay team and the 4×100 team during her inaugural campaign.
Harmata was an All-SEC selection in the javelin.
Three other current LSU athletes, in short sprinters Kelly Baptiste and Richard Thompson and jumper Andrea Linton, will also be in action this weekend, competing in their native countries’ national championships.
Baptiste and Thompson will each participate in the Trindad and Tobago Trials, while Linton will jump at the Jamaica championships.
Former athletes scheduled to join Linton at the Jamaican championships include Nadia Davy (400 meters), Ronetta Smith (400 meters), Debbie Parris (400 hurdles), Lueroy Colquhoun (400 meters) and Claston Bernard (decathlon).