BATON ROUGE — Following back-to-back weekends of dominating performances at both the New Balance and Tyson Invitationals, the LSU men’s track and field team has jumped to No. 1 in Trackwire 25 standings and No. 2 in the Coaches’ Poll this week.
In addition, the Lady Tigers have been equally impressive the previous two weeks and have earned a spot among the nation’s top five for the first time this season, improving to No. 4 in the Coaches’ Poll and No. 5 in the Trackwire 25.
The men’s team, ranked No. 1 for the first time since April 13, 2004, leapt from fifth to first in the Trackwire standings with 49 points. Texas and Arkansas are tied at No. 2 with 45 points each, while Florida State and Wisconsin are knotted at No. 4 with 32 points apiece.
In the Coaches’ Poll, the Tigers jumped Arkansas and Florida for the No. 2 position. Texas remains on top of the standings for a second straight week.
The Lady Tigers displaced both Nebraska and Tennessee in earning the No. 4 position in the Coaches’ Poll. South Carolina, Texas and Stanford hold down the top three spots.
In the Trackwire 25, Texas took over the women’s No. 1 position with 51 points. Stanford (39), South Carolina (37), Nebraska (34) and LSU (30) all follow.
In the individual event rankings, sophomore Xavier Carter earned top billing in both the 200 and 400 meters this week. Listed at No. 1 in the 200 meters for the fifth straight week, Carter entered the 400-meter standings on top after clocking a world-leading time of 45.89 at the Tyson Invitational last week.
Just behind Carter in those standings is senior Kelly Willie. He is listed at No. 2 in both the 200 and 400 meters.
Both Carter and Willie also run on the 4×400-meter relay team that is ranked No. 1 in the country for the fifth consecutive week.
Joining the ranks for the first time this week is freshman Jeremy Hicks. He is ranked 11th in the long jump after posting a season-best distance of 25-0 this past weekend.
Others in the men’s individual event rankings include Darion Powell and Edwin Billot at No. 6 and No. 12, respectively, in the heptathlon and the distance medley relay that is listed at No. 9.
The Lady Tigers are headlined by its top-ranked 4×400-meter relay team of Brooklynn Morris, Kelly Baptiste, Juanita Broaddus and Deonna Lawrence. Three of the four are also ranked in their specialty events.
Baptiste is listed at No. 4 in the both the 60 and 200 meters. Morris is just behind her at No. 5 in the 200 and No. 11 in the 60.
Lawrence is ranked sixth in the 400 meters.
Other Lady Tigers among the top 12 include Tina Harris at No. 6 in the long jump and Jessica Ohanaja at No. 11 in the 60-meter hurdles.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers return to action this Friday when they host the LSU Twilight at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.
Trackwire 25
MEN
1. LSU, 49
t2. Arkansas, 45
t2. Texas, 45
t4. Florida State, 32
t4. Wisconsin, 32
t6. Arizona, 29
t6. Nebraska, 29
8. Baylor, 28
9. Michigan, 26
10. Tennessee, 22
11. Virginia Tech, 20
12. Kansas, 19
t13. Florida, 18
t13. Iona, 18
t15. Texas A&M, 16
t15. Oregon, 16
17. TCU, 12
18. UCLA, 11
t19. BYU, 10
t19. Stanford, 10
t19. So. Carolina, 10
t22. Notre Dame, 9
t22. UTEP, 9
t22. Oral Roberts, 9
t22. Indiana, 9
WOMEN
1. Texas, 51
2. Stanford, 39
3. South Carolina, 37
4. Nebraska, 34
5. LSU, 30
6. North Carolina, 28
7. Auburn, 27
8. Providence, 26
9. Michigan, 25
t10. Arizona State, 19
t10. USC, 19
12. Tennessee, 18
13. UCLA, 17
14. Georgia, 16
t15. Alabama, 14
t15. Miami, 14
t17. Villanova, 13
t17. Penn State, 13
t17. Southern Illinois, 13
20. Northern Arizona, 12
t21. Oregon, 10
t21. Minnesota , 10
t21. Washington State, 10
t21. Florida State, 10
t21. Virginia Tech, 10
Coaches’ Poll
MEN
1. Texas
2. LSU
3. Arkansas
4. Florida State
5. Tennessee
6. Wisconsin
7. Nebraska
8. Michigan
9. Arizona
10. Virginia Tech
11. Texas A&M
12. Florida
13. Kansas
14. Baylor
15. Oregon
16. South Carolina
17. Auburn
18. USC
19. Texas Tech
20. Alabama
WOMEN
1. South Carolina
2. Texas
3. Stanford
4. LSU
5. Nebraska
6. Tennessee
7. Michigan
8. USC
9. Arizona State
10. Auburn
11. North Carolina
12. Alabama
13. Georgia
14. Providence
15. UCLA
16. Texas A&M
17. Miami
18. Villanova
19. Oregon
20. Penn State