BATON ROUGE — For the third straight week both the Tigers and Lady Tigers of the LSU track and field team are listed among the nation’s top seven according to the Trackwire 25 and Coaches’ Polls released Tuesday.
The Tigers are No. 2 in the Trackwire standings for a second straight week, while they are listed at No. 3 in the Coaches’ Poll for a third consecutive week.
The Lady Tigers improved one spot to No. 6 in the Trackwire standings and maintained their No. 7 position in the Coaches’ Poll.
In the men’s rankings, Florida State tops both polls. The Seminoles lead the Trackwire 25 with 58 points and are followed by LSU (52), UTEP (46), Arkansas (44) and Texas (38). Arkansas, LSU, Texas and UTEP round out the top five in the Coaches’ Poll.
Texas and Miami hold down the No. 1 and No. 2 positions, respectively, in both the women’s rankings. Georgia, Southern California and Nebraska led LSU in the Trackwire 25, while Southern California, Nebraska, Georgia and Arizona State are listed above the Lady Tigers in the Coaches’ Poll.
In the individual national rankings, LSU has 12 athletes and all four of its relay teams listed among the nation’s top 12.
Sprint standout Xavier Carter paces the men as he is ranked No. 1 in the 200 meters for a fourth straight week, while he entered the 100-meter ranks for the first time this season at No. 2.
Senior Kelly Willie slipped two spots to No. 3 in the 400 meters after holding the No. 1 position for three straight weeks. Junior Isa Phillips held steady at No. 6 in the 400-meter hurdles.
The Tigers again have three athletes listed among the nation’s top 10 in the decathlon as Alleyne Lett is ranked sixth, Darion Powell is seventh and Edwin Billot is 10th.
In addition, both the Tigers’ 4×100 and 4×400 relays are ranked No. 1 again this week, marking the third consecutive week for the short relay squad and the fourth straight week for the long relay team.
The Lady Tigers’ relay teams are also listed among the nation’s elite as both the 4×100 and 4×400 teams are ranked second.
Those relay teams include five athletes that also ranked in individual events.
Sophomore Kelly Baptiste leads the group as she is listed at No. 2 in the 100 meters and No. 4 in the 200 meters.
Joining Baptiste in the short sprint ranks is fellow sophomore Brooklynn Morris. She is sixth in the 200 meters and ninth in the 100 meters.
The Lady Tigers have two athletes ranked in the 400 meters as Deonna Lawrence comes in at No. 9 and Cynetheia Rooks is 11th.
Other ranked include Jessica Ohanaja in the 100 hurdles (No. 6) and Andrea Linton in the triple jump (No. 9).
The Tigers and Lady Tigers return to action this week, April 27-29, at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, Penn.
TRACKWIRE 25
Men
1. Florida State, 58; 2. LSU, 52; 3. UTEP, 46; 4. Arkansas, 44; 5. Texas, 38; 6. Arizona, 31; 7. Tennessee, 26; 8. Florida, 25; 9. Virginia Tech, 23; t10. Oregon, 22; t10. Wisconsin, 22; 12. North Carolina, 21; 13. Texas A&M, 20; t14. Boise State, 18; t14. BYU, 18; t14. Texas Tech, 18; t14. Oral Roberts, 18; 18. Nebraska, 17; 19. Washington, 16; 20. Kansas State, 14; 21. Kansas, 13; t22. USC, 12; t22. South Carolina, 12; t24. George Mason, 10; t24. Jackson State, 10; t24. Ohio State, 10.
Women
1. Texas, 61; 2. Miami, 50; 3. Georgia, 48; t4. USC, 44; t4. Nebraska, 44; 6. LSU, 35; 7. Arizona State, 33; 8. Stanford, 29; 9. Auburn, 27; 10. South Carolina, 23; t11. North Carolina, 22; t11. UCLA, 22; 13. Oregon, 20; 14. Florida State, 18; 15. Michigan, 16; t16. Texas A&M, 15; t16. BYU, 15; 18. Providence, 14; 19. Tennessee, 13; 20. Minnesota, 12; 21. Washington State, 11; t22. Akron, 10; t22. Maryland, 10; t22. Iowa, 10; t22. Houston, 10.
COACHES’ POLL
Men
1. Florida State; 2. Arkansas; 3. LSU; 4. Texas; 5. UTEP; 6. Arizona; 7. Tennessee; 8. Oregon; 9. Florida; 10. BYU; 11. Virginia Tech; 12. North Carolina; 13. Texas Tech; 14. Wisconsin; 15. Nebraska; 16. So. California; 17. Texas A&M; 18. Baylor; 19. Oral Roberts; 20. Kansas.
Women
1. Texas; 2. Miami (FL); 3. Southern California; 4. Nebraska; 5. Georgia; 6. Arizona State; 7. LSU; 8. Stanford; 9. South Carolina; 10. Auburn; 11. UCLA; 12. North Carolina; 13. Oregon; 14. Florida State; 15. Tennessee; 16. Michigan; 17. Texas A&M; 18. Providence; 19. BYU; 20. Alabama.