BATON ROUGE — The Tigers’ track and field team is ranked No. 2 in the country in both the Coaches’ Poll and the Trackwire 25, while the Lady Tigers are listed at No. 7 and No. 8, respectively, this week.
It marks the third straight week the Tigers’ have been tabbed No. 2 in the Trackwire 25. They moved up one spot from No. 3 in last week’s Coaches’ Poll.
The Lady Tigers also held steady at No. 7 in the Coaches’ Poll for a third consecutive week, while slipping two spots to No. 8 in the Trackwire 25.
Both sets of rankings have Florida State at No. 1 on the men’s side. Trackwire gives the Seminoles the top spot with 59 points. They are followed by LSU (50), UTEP (48), Texas (46), Arkansas (30) and Arizona (30). The coaches tab LSU, Texas, Arkansas and UTEP behind FSU.
On the women’s side, Texas and Miami are tied for the No. 1 spot in the Trackwire standings with 61 points each. They are followed by USC (48), Nebraska (45) and Georgia (44) in the top five.
In the Coaches’ Poll, Texas also leads the way and is trailed by Miami, USC, Nebraska and Georgia.
Individually, LSU has 11 athletes and all four of its relay teams listed among the nation’s top 12.
Following a commanding win at the Penn Relays, sophomore Kelly Baptiste moved into the No. 1 position in the women’s 100 meters. She is also listed at No. 4 in the 200 meters.
Fellow sophomore Xavier Carter is LSU’s other top-ranked individual this week. He is listed at No. 1 in the 200 meters and No. 2 in the 100 meters.
In addition, both the Tigers’ 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays are ranked No. 1 in the country for the fourth and fifth consecutive week, respectively.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers return to the track next week, May 11-14, at the SEC Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.