BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams hit the road this Saturday, traveling to Albuquerque, N.M., for the Modrall Sperling Lobo Invitational at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
The meet will begin at 10 a.m. (CT) with the field events. Running events will follow at 11:30 a.m.
The competition will feature 12 of the nation’s top collegiate teams. Nationally-ranked opponents include No. 7 Arizona, No. 12 Texas A&M, No. 19 UTEP and BYU and USC who are both knotted at No. 20 on the men’s side. No. 8 USC, No. 10 California, No. 13 Texas A&M and No. 18 BYU highlight the women’s field.
“This meet is going to give everyone the opportunity to run at a good facility against some really great competition,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “It’s still early in the season, but we plan on having just about everyone run in their specialty event so it will give them a chance to see where they are at.”
Head-to-head competition should be exciting as the meet contains 34 athletes and five relay teams ranked among the top 12 in the nation.
Both the men’s and women’s 60-meter dashes should be one of the most competitive races of the day as the ladies’ field contains LSU sophomore Kelly Baptiste who is ranked eighth nationally and USC’s Virginia Powell who is listed at No. 9.
Four nationally-ranked competitors will be in the blocks for the men’s race. LSU All-American and Olympic Gold Medalist, Kelly Willie, opens his season in the 60 meters. He will face No. 4 Churandy Martina of UTEP, No. 6 Tyrone Edgar from Texas A&M and No. 11 Greg Bolden of Florida State.
The 200 meters and the 4×400 relay should also provide numerous highlights. LSU sophomore, Xavier Carter, will be running in his first 200-meter race of the season. Ranked No. 1 in the event, Carter should be challenged by Florida State’s Ronald Wright (No. 12) and Bolden.
The women’s 200 meters will be led by the Lady Tiger duo of Baptiste and Juanita Broaddus who are listed at No. 6 and No. 7, respectively in the event.
In the men’s 4×400 relay, three of the country’s top-5 teams pepper the field. LSU, the defending NCAA outdoor champions, enter the meet ranked No. 1. They will battle No. 4 Florida State and No. 5 Texas A&M to the finish line.
In the field, Lady Tigers Kathy Coleman and Nedra Gross will face top-ranked Rafeeq Curry of Florida State in the triple jump.
In the men’s shot put, freshman Ricky Jean-Francois will be making his inaugural appearance in the purple and gold. One of the country’s top throws recruits last season, he will tested out of the gates, competing against second-ranked Sean Shields of Arizona and No. 4 Garrett Johnson of FSU.
Following the Lobo Invitational, the Tigers and Lady Tigers return home to the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse for the LSU Combined Events and the Bayou Bengal Invitational that will run, Jan. 26-28.