BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s track and field team holds steady this week at No. 3 in the latest Coaches Poll and Trackwire 25 released Tuesday, while the men’s squad remains among the nation’s Top 20 teams at No. 15 and No. 19, respectively.
The Lady Tigers have been overtaken by Arizona State for the No. 1 spot in the latest Trackwire 25 power rankings as the Sun Devils are the consensus top-ranked team in the nation.
Second-ranked Michigan, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Stanford and No. 5 South Carolina round out the nation’s top-five teams in the Trackwire 25, while Arizona State is followed by No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Michigan and No. 5 South Carolina in the latest Coaches Poll Top 20.
The Tigers move up two spots to 15th in this week’s Coaches Poll, while they are currently in a five-way tie for 19th in the Trackwire 25 power rankings. Auburn currently sits atop the standings in the Trackwire 25 with Florida State being voted the nation’s No. 1 squad by the coaches.
The Lady Tigers continue to be well-represented with nine nationally-ranked athletes and its 4×400-meter relay team in this week’s Trackwire Dandy Dozen, which is a listing of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each individual event scored at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
A trio of Lady Tigers find themselves ranked among the nation’s top-12 athletes in both the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles as they are led by junior All-American Kelly Baptiste, who holds on to the No. 1 spot in the 60 meters for the fourth week in a row. She is joined on the list by senior All-American Sherry Fletcher at No. 8 and freshman Samantha Henry at No. 10.
LSU continues to prove why it has the deepest hurdles group in the country as junior Jessica Ohanaja, sophomore Nickiesha Wilson and senior Angel Boyd are the nation’s third, fourth and eighth-ranked athletes in the 60-meter hurdles for the second consecutive week. Ohanaja has qualified automatically for the NCAA Championships in the event.
Baptiste is currently ranked No. 4 in the 200 meters followed by fellow junior Brooklynn Morris at No. 9, while junior Deonna Lawrence is ranked sixth in the 400 meters and junior Kathy Coleman leads the Lady Tigers’ effort in the field events as she is ranked ninth in the long jump.
On the men’s side, the Tigers continue to be led by junior Richard Thompson as the All-American is the nation’s seventh-ranked performer in the 60-meter dash. Junior Reggie Dardar enters the Dandy Dozen at No. 9 in the 400 meters after clocking the world’s second-fastest time in the event this past weekend, while freshman Jamaal James is currently ninth in the 800 meters.
Both the men’s and women’s 4×400-meter relay squads remain among the favorites to compete for national titles during the indoor campaign as both the Tigers and Lady Tigers are ranked No. 2 on the strength of solid performances at the New Balance Collegiate Invitational at the Armory Track and Field Center in New York this past weekend.
The Lady Tiger foursome of Morris, Lawrence, freshman LaTavia Thomas and Wilson finished runner-up to the top-ranked squad from South Carolina with an NCAA automatic qualifying time of 3:31.77, while the men’s team of seniors Siraj Williams, Melville Rogers, Marvin Stevenson and Dardar took top honors with a provisional qualifying time of 3:07.54.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers take to the road for the second-straight weekend as they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday to battle many of the nation’s top teams in the Tyson Invitational at the Randall Tyson Track Complex. They will then return home to host the LSU Twilight at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse on Feb. 16.
Trackwire 25
WOMEN
1. Arizona State, 45
2. Michigan, 40
3. LSU, 39
4. Stanford, 38
5. South Carolina, 30
6. Texas Tech, 29
7. Texas A&M, 28
t8. Tennessee, 23
t8. Minnesota, 23
10. Auburn, 21
11. Kansas State, 20
12. Georgia, 19
13. Texas, 18
14. Hampton, 17
t15. North Carolina, 14
t15. Georgia Tech, 14
t15. Arkansas, 14
t18. Washington State, 12
t18. Penn State, 12
20. Iowa, 11
t21. Southern Illinois, 10
t21. Villanova, 10
t23. Kansas, 9
t23. Florida, 9
t23. Cornell, 9
MEN
1. Auburn, 45
2. Florida State, 44
3. Arkansas, 39
4. Wisconsin, 38
5. Washington, 34
6. Texas, 32
7. Oregon, 28
8. Baylor, 27
9. Nebraska, 19
10. Florida, 18
11. South Carolina, 16
12. Clemson, 15
13. Stanford, 14
14. Louisville, 12
t15. Northern Iowa, 11
t15. UTEP, 11
t15. Tennessee, 11
t15. Michigan, 11
t19. LSU, 10
t19. Northern Arizona, 10
t19. Idaho, 10
t19. Indiana, 10
t19. South Alabama, 10
t24. UCLA, 9
t24. Providence, 9
t24. Iona, 9
t24. Pittsburgh, 9
Coaches Poll
WOMEN
1. Arizona State
2. Stanford
3. LSU
4. Michigan
5. South Carolina
6. Texas A&M
7. Texas Tech
8. Auburn
9. Texas
10. Minnesota
11. Tennessee
12. Georgia
13. North Carolina
14. Kansas State
15. Arkansas
16. Oregon
17. Villanova
18. Washington State
19. Hampton
20. Georgia Tech
MEN
1. Florida State
2. Arkansas
3. Auburn
4. Wisconsin
5. Texas
6. Washington
7. Nebraska
8. Oregon
9. South Carolina
10. Baylor
11. Florida
12. Stanford
13. Clemson
14. UTEP
15. LSU
16. Tennessee
17. Louisville
18. Northern Iowa
19. Idaho
20. Providence