BATON ROUGE ? LSU head track and field coach Dennis Shaver announced the addition of 11 student-athletes Saturday who will be eligible to compete for both the men’s and women’s teams beginning in the 2007 indoor season.
A total of five men and six women are set to make their debut for the Tigers and will bolster already strong squads that saw the women capture the NCAA Mideast Regional Championship and the men earn runner-up finishes at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2006.
“The men’s team returns a solid nucleus from 2006, and with the addition of the new class of recruits, I’m confident we’ll continue to challenge for team titles for years to come,” Shaver said. “As always, we lose great athletes. But our returning athletes will elevate their performance level to enable our team to compete for championships.
“Our staff did an excellent job of blending youthful talent capable of contributing toward our team goals. The Lady Tigers should be a much improved team overall with our returning crop of players and new additions. It’s exciting to see LSU once again have the type of team make up that brought many national titles to Baton Rouge.”
Joining the men’s squad for the 2007 season are in-state standouts Preston Chatham, Will Coppage and Josh Dominquez, sprint champion Armanti Hayes of Moultrie, Ga., and middle distance runner Jamaal James of Trinidad and Tobago.
Chatham comes to LSU from Covington as the top high school javelin recruit in the country after twice being named a USATF All-American and a two-time state champion at St. Paul’s High School. He is the high school record holder in the javelin in the state of Louisiana after posting a personal best of 217-0.
Hayes was a high school sprint champion at Colquitt County High School in Moultrie, Ga., with PRs of 21.61 in the 200 meters and 47.26 in the 400 meters and captured the USATF National Junior Olympic Championship in the 400 meters in 2006.
James is set to run the 800 meters at LSU after advancing to the semifinals of the IAAF World Junior Championships as a representative of his native country and captured the Carifta Games Championship in 2006. An outstanding student, he boasts a personal best of 1:48.60 in the event, which is the No. 4 performance in the world by an athlete under the age of 18.
Coppage was the nation’s top-ranked long jumper under 18 as a senior at Alexandria Senior High School in 2006 and is set to compete in the long jump, triple jump and high jump for the Tigers after posting personal bests of 24-11, 47-4 and 6-8, respectively.
Dominguez ranks as one of the top pole vaulters in the state of Louisiana with a personal best of 16-0 and will compete in the same event at LSU.
“Our main recruiting goal for the 2006 class was to sign high school athletes who possessed the talent to compete at the highest level,” Shaver said. “We wanted to strengthen our team across all event areas with this class. There’s no question that those goals were achieved and will enable our men to have quality in all event areas ? an ingredient required to win a NCAA team title.”
Competing for the women’s team in 2007 are sprinter Kristina Davis of Union City, Calif., pole vaulter Katelyn Rodriguez of New Orleans, middle distance ace Latavia Thomas of Philadelphia, Pa., thrower Kim Williams of Douglasville, Ga., and both sprinter Samantha Henry and hurdler Nickiesha Wilson of Jamaica.
Three of these standouts earned distinction as being the top-ranked performers in their respective events in 2006.
Thomas was the nation’s top-ranked middle distance runner after posting a time of 2:06.76 in the 800 meters as a senior at West Catholic High School and being named to the IAAF World Junior Team in 2005. She has also clocked an indoor PR of 2:07.10, which is just a half second shy of Joetta Clark’s U.S. Junior record in the event.
Williams won the weight throw title at the National Scholastic Indoor Championships en route to being ranked the No. 1 junior hammer thrower in the country with a PR of 175-0. She was also the second-ranked weight thrower this past season with a personal best of 56-1?.
Wilson is a transfer from Oklahoma Baptist University where she captured the NAIA Outdoor National Championship in the 400-meter hurdles in 2006 with a time of 58.25 and boasts a PR of 56.77 in the event. She was also a silver medalist at the NACAC U-23 Championships in Santo Domingo this year.
Rodriguez provides an immediate impact in the pole vault as an AAU Junior Champion in 2006 with a personal best of 12-4, while short sprinters Davis and Henry are set to compete in both the 100 and 200 meters for the women this season.
“The depth and talent pool of this Lady Tiger team reminds me of many past LSU squads,” Shaver said. “The challenge this group will now face is accepting roles which give them the best chance to win an NCAA title, which is the most important thing. This signing class will immediately contribute toward the team goal of competing for championships at the highest level.”
The Tigers open the 2007 indoor season on Jan. 13 when they host the Purple Tiger Classic at the Carl Maddox Field House.