BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s track and field team holds onto its position among the nation’s Top 10 squads this week, while the men’s team continues to move up in the rankings in the latest Trackwire 25 and Coaches Poll released Tuesday.
The Lady Tigers are currently ranked No. 5 in the latest USTFCCCA Top 20 and are in a three-way tie for No. 6 in this week’s Trackwire 25 with the men’s squad moving up two spots to No. 15 in the Coaches Poll and into a tie for No. 15 in the Trackwire 25.
The teams continue to be well-represented in the latest Trackwire Dandy Dozen as a total of four men and 10 women find themselves ranked among the nation’s top 12 performers in their respective specialty event. The Dandy Dozen is a listing of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each individual event scored at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Leading the way for the Tigers heading down the stretch of the regular season is junior sprint standout Richard Thompson, who is the nation’s eighth-ranked performer in the 60-meter dash and is currently ranked 12th in the 200 meters. Thompson is joined by freshman Will Coppage and sophomore Jeremy Hicks as the duo ranks No. 5 and No. 11 in the long jump, respectively.
On the women’s side, junior All-American Kelly Baptiste continues to lead the way as she is currently the nation’s second-ranked sprinter in the 60 meters while also being ranked No. 6 in the 200 meters. She is joined in the sprints by junior standouts Deonna Lawrence at No. 9 and Cynetheia Rooks at No. 11 in the 400 meters.
Junior Jessica Ohanaja, sophomore Nickiesha Wilson and senior Angel Boyd remain among the nation’s top-12 performers in the women’s 60-meter hurdles as they rank fifth, sixth and 10th in the latest Dandy Dozen. Freshman LaTavia Thomas makes her debut in the rankings at No. 10 in the 800 meters with junior Kathy Coleman leading the way in the field at No. 9 in the long jump.
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 in New York and the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., the past two weeks.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers are set to host the LSU Twilight at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse on Friday before traveling to the Nutter Fieldhouse in Lexington, Ky., on Feb. 23-25 to compete against many of the nation’s best teams at the SEC Indoor Championships.
Trackwire 25
WOMEN
1. Michigan, 43
2. Arizona State, 41
3. Stanford, 35
4. Georgia, 34
5. South Carolina, 33
t6. LSU, 26
t6. Tennessee, 26
t6. Auburn, 26
9. Minnesota, 25
10. Texas A&M, 21
t11. Texas Tech, 19
t11. Texas, 19
t13. Hampton, 15
t13. Penn State, 15
15. Washington State, 13
t16. Georgia Tech, 12
t16. Illinois, 12
t16. Arkansas, 12
t19. UCLA, 11
t19. North Carolina, 11
t21. Villanova, 10
t21. Southern Illinois, 10
t21. Kansas, 10
t21. Duke, 10
t21. USC, 10
MEN
1. Florida State, 48
2. Wisconsin, 43
3. Texas, 42
4. Auburn, 38
5. Baylor, 31
6. Washington, 30
7. Arkansas, 27
8. Oregon, 23
9. Louisville, 22
10. Stanford, 19
11. Michigan, 18
12. UCLA, 16
13. Clemson, 15
14. Tennessee, 14
t15. LSU, 13
t15. Idaho, 13
t15. Nebraska, 13
t18. Pittsburgh, 11
t18. Oklahoma, 11
t20. Northern Arizona, 10
t20. South Alabama, 10
t20. Providence, 10
t23. Florida, 9
t23. Northern Iowa, 9
t23. UTEP, 9
USTFCCCA Top 20
WOMEN
1. Arizona State
2. Michigan
3. Stanford
4. South Carolina
5. LSU
6. Texas A&M
7. Georgia
8. Tennessee
9. Minnesota
10. Auburn
11. Texas Tech
12. Texas
13. Arkansas
14. Washington State
15. North Carolina
16. Penn State
17. Villanova
18. Oregon
19. Hampton
20. Kansas
MEN
1. Florida State
2. Auburn
3. Wisconsin
4. Texas
5. Arkansas
6. Washington
7. Oregon
8. Baylor
9. Stanford
10. Nebraska
11. Clemson
12. South Carolina
13. LSU
14. Louisville
15. Florida
16. Northern Iowa
17. Tennessee
18. Michigan
19. UTEP
20. Oklahoma