BATON ROUGE — LSU’s track and field team begins the 2006 season Saturday when it hosts the Purple Tiger Invitational at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.
Action will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the field events. Running events will follow at 11 a.m.
Competition will include 17 collegiate teams that hail primarily from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. In-state schools slated to compete include Southeastern Louisiana, UL-Monroe, UL-Lafayette, McNeese State, Nicholls State and New Orleans.
“This first meet is a good chance for the coaches to see the athletes in a competition situation,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “For the returning athletes they will have the opportunity to compare their first performance against last year’s first performance to see how they have improved during the off-season, and for the newcomers it allows us to see how they compete in their first collegiate meet.”
The majority of Tigers and Lady Tigers will get the season underway by competing in just one event this weekend. Additional events will likely be added to the athletes slate next week at the Lobo Invitational in New Mexico where a bank-tracked will provide a more conducive environment for NCAA qualifying.
Highlighted athletes kicking things off Saturday include All-Americans Kelly Baptiste, Deonna Lawrence, Jessica Ohanaja, Tina Harris and Alleyne Lett.
Baptiste and Lawrence will take to the track in the 60 and 200-meters dashes, respectively, while Ohanaja will open with the 60-meter hurdles.
Harris and Lett will be in the field with Harris competing in her specialty, the long jump, and Lett participating in the shot put.
A few of the Lady Tigers’ talented additions to this year’s roster, in Juanita Broaddus, Shaunette Davidson and Kathy Coleman, will also be making their first appearance in the purple and gold.
Broaddus, the 2005 NJCAA national runner-up in both the 60 and 200 meters, is scheduled to make an appearance in both events. Davidson, who won the junior college indoor national title in the high jump last season, will be jumping in the event Saturday.
Joining her in the field will be Southeast Missouri State transfer, Coleman. She will compete in the long jump, an event in which she won the Ohio Valley Conference title a year ago.
Following the Purple Tiger Invitational, LSU hits the road, traveling to Albuquerque, N.M., for the Lobo Invitational on Jan. 21.