BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams are listed among the nation’s top 10 in the first Trackwire 25 rankings of the outdoor season, as the Tigers are tied for third and the Lady Tigers are listed ninth.
Top-ranked Florida State holds a hefty lead over NCAA indoor champion, Arkansas, in the men’s standings with 66 points to the Razorbacks’ 49 points. LSU and UTEP are tied at No. 3 with 45 points each while Arizona (40) rounds out the top five.
In the women’s rankings, indoor national champion, Texas, opens the outdoor season in the No. 1 spot with 62 points. The Longhorns are followed by Nebraska (47), USC (47), Georgia (43) and Arizona State (39) in the top five. The bottom half of the top 10 is comprised of South Carolina (36), Auburn (34), Miami (28), LSU (27) and North Carolina (24).
Individually, LSU has 11 athletes and four relay teams ranked among the nation’s top 12 in their respective events.
Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers indoor national champion 4×400 relay teams begin the outdoor season ranked No. 1 in the country.
In addition, the men’s 4×100 relay is ranked second, while the women’s short relay is listed at No. 5.
LSU’s NCAA Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, Xavier Carter, earned top billing in the 200 meters, while 16-time All-American Kelly Willie is listed at No. 1 in the 400 meters.
Joining Willie in the open quarter ranks is sophomore Reggie Dardar. The two-time All-American is ranked 10th.
In the field events, freshman Jeremy Hicks is listed at No. 11 in the long jump, while a trio of Tigers in Alleyne Lett, Darion Powell and Edwin Billot are ranked fifth, sixth and 11th, respectively, in the decathlon.
On the women’s side, Lady Tiger sophomores Kelly Baptiste and Brooklynn Morris are each ranked in the 100 and 200 meters. Baptiste starts the season at No. 5 in the 100 meters and No. 7 in the 200 meters, while Morris is fifth in the 200 and 10th in the 100.
The two other Lady Tigers ranked individually are sophomore Deonna Lawrence and junior Tanya Osbourne. Lawrence is listed at No. 6 in the 400 meters and Osbourne in 11th in the 800 meters.
The LSU track and field team returns to action this weekend when it travels to Austin, Texas, for the 79th annual Texas Relays.
TRACKWIRE 25
Men
1. Florida State, 66; 2. Arkansas, 49; t3. UTEP, 45; t3. LSU, 45; 5. Arizona, 40; 6. Texas, 37; 7. Oregon, 31; 8. Tennessee, 26; t9. Texas Tech, 22; t9. Florida, 22; 11. BYU, 21; 12. Auburn, 20; 13. TCU, 19; t14. Northern Iowa, 15; t14. Kansas State, 15; t14. North Carolina, 15; t17. USC, 14; t17. Nebraska, 14; t17. Virginia Tech, 14; t17. South Carolina, 14; t21. Boise State, 13; t21. Kansas, 13; t21. Wisconsin, 13; t24. Stanford, 11; t24. Baylor, 11.
Women
1. Texas, 62; t2. USC, 47; t2. Nebraska, 47; 4. Georgia, 43; 5. Arizona State, 39; 6. South Carolina, 36; 7. Auburn, 34; 8. Miami, 28; 9. LSU, 27; 10. North Carolina, 24; 11. Oregon, 23; 12. Stanford, 22; 13. UCLA, 19; 14. Tennessee, 18; 15. Alabama, 17; t16. Florida State, 16; t16. Michigan, 16; t18. Texas A&M, 14; t18. Duke, 14; 20. Iowa, 12; 21. Maryland, 11; t22. Providence, 10; t22. Northern Arizona, 10; t22. Minnesota, 10; t22. Illinois, 10; t22. Hampton, 10; t22. Washington State, 10.