BATON ROUGE — After months of extensive training and preparation, the LSU track and field team is set to open the 2007 indoor season Saturday by hosting the Purple Tiger Indoor Track and Field Classic at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.
The morning session begins at 9:30 a.m. with the field events followed by the meet’s first running events at 11 a.m. Field events in the evening session are set to begin at 1 p.m. with the meet’s sprinters and middle distance runners taking to the track for the first time at 3 p.m.
The competition features 17 collegiate teams from across the Southeast hailing primarily from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. In-state squads scheduled to compete include Grambling State, McNeese State, Nicholls State, Southeastern Louisiana, Tulane and UL-Lafayette in addition to LSU.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun for us to get everybody on the track for the most part and have them do a little something,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “It’s the first meet of the season and we’ve been training hard since be got back on Jan. 3, but this is a great opportunity for many of the athletes to get on the track in a competitive setting. We’re looking forward to it.”
Shaver has elected to enter the majority of his athletes in just one event this weekend with additional events being added for those traveling to the Modrall Sperling Lobo Invitational in New Mexico next week where a banked track will provide a more conducive environment for NCAA qualifying.
The Lady Tigers are poised to compete for their 12th indoor national championship this season as they return all 10 All-Americans from last year’s squad. Among those set to make their season debut on Saturday are All-Americans Kelly Baptiste, Deonna Lawrence, Andrea Linton, Brooklynn Morris, Jessica Ohanaja and Cynetheia Rooks.
Baptiste is scheduled to open the season by competing in the 60-meter dash, while Ohanaja will also take to the track in the 60-meter hurdles and Linton is slated to compete in the triple jump. Lawrence, Morris and Rooks will each compete as members of the Lady Tigers’ defending national champion 4×400-meter relay team.
Several of the Lady Tigers’ talented newcomers will also be making their first career appearance in the purple and gold, including Kristina Davis and Samantha Henry in the 60-meter dash, Nickiesha Wilson in the 60-meter hurdles, Katelyn Rodrigue in the pole vault and Kim Williams in the weight throw.
“I’m certainly looking forward to seeing the progress that these women have made from last year at this time to this year at this time,” Shaver said. “We’re going to see a much improved and more well-rounded team in many of the event areas. We have more people who conditioned themselves in the off-season to be able to make contributions in championship meets.”
The Tigers will be competing this season without the services of departed standouts Xavier Carter and Kelly Willie, who combined to win 12 All-America honors a season ago. Shaver returns eight All-Americans who will be making their season debut this weekend, including Reggie Dardar, Alleyne Lett, Isa Phillips, Melville Rogers, Marvin Stevenson and Richard Thompson.
Thompson will lead the Tigers’ effort in the 60 meters, while Lett is scheduled to compete in both the 60-meter hurdles and the long jump. Dardar, Phillips, Rogers, Stevenson and Thompson will each be running on one of LSU’s two 4×400-meter relay teams along with fellow All-Americans Austin Benton and Siraj Williams.
Heralded newcomers Will Coppage and Armanti Hayes are welcomed additions to this year’s squad as they will be making their collegiate debuts in the long jump and 60 meters, respectively. Coppage was the nation’s No. 1 performer in the event as a high school senior in 2006, while Hayes won Junior Olympic titles in the 400 meters and 4×400 relay at the high school level.
“We’re just looking for a few good men right now,” Shaver said. “We’ve got a good nucleus of people returning with Alleyne Lett coming back after sitting out the outdoor season last year. We’re also counting on guys like Marvin Stevenson, Siraj Williams, Reggie Dardar and others to really step up their game and lead this team this season.”
LSU follows its appearance in the Purple Tiger Classic by making the trip to Albuquerque, N.M., next weekend to compete in the aforementioned Modrall Sperling Lobo Invitational at the Albuquerque Convention Center from January 19-20.