BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field team opens its outdoor home schedule this weekend as it hosts the LSU Tiger Relays at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
The three-day meet will run Thursday through Saturday and will feature nearly 20 collegiate teams and over 40 high school programs.
Competition gets underway at 2 p.m. on Thursday the women’s hammer throw. A select few distance races will follow at 4:30 p.m. Action continues Friday at noon and Saturday at 9 a.m. with the bulk of the meet’s open field and running events.
Admission to the meet is free on Thursday and tickets will be available for purchase on Friday and Saturday. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children ages 3-12.
In addition, any Tiger fan that presents their ticket stub from Saturday’s baseball game versus Mississippi State at the track ticket window will be admitted to the meet for free.
“The weather is supposed to be great this weekend and we really hope that this will be a good opportunity for families to come out, enjoy the event and support the LSU track and field team,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver.
The Tiger Relays will serve as the outdoor opener for the majority of the members of the men’s and women’s teams, who are coming off respective second and seventh-place finishes at the NCAA Indoor Championships two weeks ago.
“This is our first opportunity to run all of our top athletes in some relay events and see where we are at as we head into the outdoor season,” said Shaver.
Shaver plans to put both his national champion 4×400-meter relay squads on the track to wrap up action on Saturday afternoon. Scheduled for an approximate 4:05 p.m. start, All-Americans Brooklynn Morris, Juanita Broaddus, Cynetheia Rooks and Deonna Lawrence will take to the track in the women’s race. They will look to continue their unbeaten streak in the long relay as they won seven straight races during the indoor season.
Following the women will be the Tigers’ All-American foursome of Kelly Willie, Reggie Dardar, Melville Rogers and Xavier Carter. The quartet, which includes three members off last year’s collegiate record-setting relay team, posted the fourth fastest time in the world in the event during the indoor season.
Carter, the NCAA Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, and Willie, the Tigers’ all-time All-America awards leader, are also slated to compete in both the 4×100 and sprint medley relays this weekend.
Following the Tiger Relays, the LSU track and field team continues its home schedule, hosting the LSU Combined Events, March 29-30, and the LSU Invitational on April 1.