BATON ROUGE — The Tiger track team remains at No. 5 in the country while the Lady Tigers improved to No. 16 this week in the Trackwire 25 national rankings. In addition, the men’s squad is ranked fifth and the women’s team in seventh in the new Coaches Poll, released Tuesday.
The Trackwire standings list Florida State at No. 1 on the men’s side for a second straight week with 56 points. Arkansas (50), Wisconsin (47), Texas (36) and LSU (33) all follow.
The women’s side has South Carolina and Texas knotted at No. 1 with 56 points each. Stanford (42) is third, followed by Nebraska (30) and Tennessee (25). The Lady Tigers are credited will 15 points and sit in a two-way tie for 16th with Southern Illinois.
In the newly released Coaches’ Poll, Arkansas leads the men’s standings and is followed by Texas, Florida State, Wisconsin and LSU in the top five.
The women’s top spot goes to defending NCAA Indoor champions, Tennessee. The Lady Vols are trailed by Texas, South Carolina, Stanford and Nebraska. The Lady Tigers follow USC for the No. 7 position.
Individually, LSU has eight athletes and a pair of relay teams listed among the top 12 in their respective events this week.
Sophomore Xavier Carter is listed at No. 1 in the country in the 200 meters, while senior Kelly Willie took over the No. 1 spot in the 400 meters after holding down the No. 3 position each of the last two weeks. Both Carter and Willie also run on the 4×400 relay team that is ranked No.1 for a third straight week.
On the women’s side, sophomores Kelly Baptiste and Brooklynn Morris highlight the list of ranked competitors.
Baptiste improved to No. 3 in the 60 meters following a personal-best effort in the event last week at the Bayou Bengal Invitational. She is also listed at No. 5 in the 200 meters.
Morris joins Baptiste at No. 6 in the 200 meters. She is also ranked seventh in the 60 meters.
Up next, both the Tigers and Lady Tigers travel to New York City this Friday and Saturday for the sixth annual New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the Armory Track and Field Center.
TRACKWIRE 25
Men
1. Florida State, 56; 2. Arkansas, 50; 3. Wisconsin, 47; 4. Texas, 36; 5. LSU, 33; 6. Tennessee, 30; 7. Baylor, 24; 8. Virginia Tech, 22; 9. Michigan, 21; t10. Nebraska, 20; t10. Arizona, 20; 12. Texas A&M, 18; t13. Oregon, 15; t13. TCU, 15; t15. South Carolina 14; t15. Kansas, 14; t15. Auburn, 14; 18. Florida, 13; 19. USC, 12; 20. Notre Dame, 11; t21. Indiana, 9; t21. Oral Roberts, 9; 23. BYU, 8; 24. Kansas State, 7; t25. Akron, 6; t25. UTEP.
Women
t1. South Carolina, 56; t1. Texas, 56; 3. Stanford, 42; 4. Nebraska, 30; 5. Tennessee, 25; 6. Arizona State, 24; 7. USC, 23; t8. UCLA, 19; t8. North Carolina, 19; t10. Michigan, 18; t10. Providence, 18; t12. Texas A&M, 17; t12. Georgia, 17; t14. Auburn, 16; t14. Penn State, 16; t16. LSU, 15; t16. Southern Illinois, 15; t18. Alabama, 14; t18. Oregon, 14; 20. Miami, 13; 21. Duke, 11; t22. Washington, 10; t22. BYU, 10; t22. Northern Arizona, 10; t22. Harvard, 10; t22. Cal Poly, 10; t22. Virginia Tech, 10.
COACHES’ POLL
Men
1. Arkansas; 2. Texas; 3. Fla. State; 4. Wisconsin; 5. LSU; 6. Tennessee; 7. Nebraska; 8. Va. Tech; 9. Texas A&M; 10. Florida; 11. Arizona; 12. South Carolina; 13. Oregon; 14. Michigan; 15. Texas Tech; 16. Indiana; 17. Auburn; 18. Kansas; 19. Baylor; 20. BYU.
Women
1, Tennessee; 2. Texas; 3. South Carolina; 4. Stanford; 5. Nebraska; 6. USC; 7. LSU; 8. Georgia; 9. Miami (FL); 10. Alabama; 11. Arizona St.; 12. UCLA; 13. Texas A&M; 14. Duke; 15. Michigan; 16. California; 17. Oregon; 18. BYU; 19. Auburn; 20. Illinois.