BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s track and field team will take a pair of top-five rankings in to the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend, while the women will be among the top 12 according to the final Trackwire 25 and the Coaches’ Polls of the indoor season, released Tuesday.
The Tigers slipped one spot to No. 3 in the Trackwire standings and No. 4 in the Coaches’ Poll.
Arkansas tops the Trackwire 25 with 59 points. The Razorbacks are followed by Florida State (49), LSU (41), Texas (37) and both Florida (26) and Baylor (26) in the top five.
The coaches tabbed Texas No. 1 this week. The Longhorns are trailed by Arkansas, Florida State, LSU and Wisconsin.
The Lady Tigers improved one spot to No. 6 in the Trackwire 25, while falling seven spots to No. 11 in the Coaches’ Poll.
Texas tops the standings in both polls and is followed by Stanford, Auburn, Arizona State and Nebraska in the Trackwire 25 and South Carolina, Stanford, Nebraska and Auburn in the Coaches’ Poll.
Individually, 10 of the LSU’s 12 NCAA Indoor Championships qualifiers as well as both its men’s and women’s 4×400-meter relay teams enter the national meet ranked among the top 12 in the country in their respective specialty events.
Tiger standout Xavier Carter is the nation’s No. 1-ranked competitor in both the 200 and 400 meters. He also anchors LSU’s top-ranked 4×400-meter relay team.
Joining Carter on that relay team is senior Kelly Willie who is listed at No. 3 in the 200 meters and No. 6 in the 60 meters.
Both LSU’s competitors in the men’s heptathlon are ranked nationally, as Darion Powell is listed at No. 8 and Edwin Billot is just behind him at No. 10.
On the women’s side, LSU will bring the country’s top-ranked 4×400-meter relay team to the national meet.
Running legs on that relay team are three athletes that are each ranked nationally in their signature events.
Sophomore Brooklynn Morris is ranked sixth in the 200 meters, while junior Cynetheia Rooks and sophomore Deonna Lawrence are listed at No. 8 and No. 9, respectively, in the 400 meters.
Ranked in two events for the Lady Tigers is Kelly Baptiste. The sophomore is listed at No. 4 in both the 60 and 200 meters.
Others in the standings include junior Tanya Osbourne in the 800 meters (10th) and junior Tina Harris in the long jump (12th).
The Tigers and Lady Tigers close out the indoor season this Friday and Saturday at the NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.
TRACKWIRE 25
Men
1. Arkansas, 59; 2. Florida State, 49; 3. LSU, 41; 4. Texas, 37; t5. Florida, 26; t5. Baylor, 26; 7. Wisconsin, 25; 8. Tennessee, 24; t9. Oregon, 21; t9. Arizona, 21; t11. Kansas, 19; t11. Virginia Tech, 19; 13. Iona, 18; 14. Michigan, 15; t15. TCU, 14; t15. Oral Roberts, 14; t17. Nebraska, 13; t17. Kansas State, 13; t17. South Carolina, 13; t20. UCLA, 12; t20. Texas A&M, 12; t20. BYU, 12; 23. Stanford, 11; t24. Minnesota, 9; t24. Texas Tech, 9; t24. Alabama, 9; t24. Auburn, 9.
Women
1. Texas, 54; 2. Stanford, 46; 3. Auburn, 42; 4. Arizona State, 37; 5. Nebraska, 32; t6. LSU, 24; t6. North Carolina, 24; t8. South Carolina, 22; t8. Providence, 22; t8. Miami, 22; 11. Michigan, 20; 12. Georgia, 19; t13. Northern Arizona, 16; t13. Villanova, 16; 15. Tennessee, 15; t16. USC, 14; t16. Alabama, 14; t18. UCLA, 13; t18. Southern Illinois, 13; 20. Penn State, 12; t21. Washington State, 10; t21. Georgia Tech, 10; t21. Oregon, 10; 24. Minnesota, 9; t25. Florida State, 8; t25. Virginia Tech, 8; t25. Iowa, 8; t25. Maryland, 8.
COACHES’ POLL
Men
1.Texas; 2. Arkansas; 3. Florida State ; 4. LSU; 5. Wisconsin; 6. Tennessee; 7. Nebraska; 8. Florida; 9. Virginia Tech; 10. Arizona; 11. Michigan; 12. Baylor; 13. Kansas; 14. Texas A&M; 15. Oregon; 16. Iona; 17. South Carolina; 18. UCLA; 19. Oral Roberts; 20. Kansas State.
Women
1. Texas; 2. South Carolina; 3. Stanford; 4. Nebraska; 5. Auburn; 6. Michigan; 7. North Carolina; 8. Tennessee; 9. Arizona State; 10. Providence; 11. LSU; 12. Georgia; 13. Miami; 14. Villanova; 15. Alabama; 16. Penn State; 17. Southern Illinois; 18. UCLA; 19. USC; 20. Texas A&M