FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams have put the finishing touches on their preparations for the NCAA Indoor Championships as they begin the national title race Friday at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.
LSU brings a pair of Top 10 squads to the national meet as the Lady Tigers are tied for the No. 2 spot in this week’s Trackwire 25 power rankings and are No. 3 in the Coaches Poll, while the Tigers are tied for ninth in the Trackwire 25 and rank No. 10 in the latest USTFCCCA Top 20.
The Lady Tigers, who have won a total of 11 indoor national titles in the program’s illustrious history and three in the last five years, are among the favorites yet again as 13 athletes and their 4×400-meter relay team have qualified for the competition. The squad enters the meet with confidence as it leads the field with 18 chances to score valuable points in the team standings.
“It’s just going to be a dogfight on the women’s side with about three or four teams with a great chance to win the track meet,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “We have some experience as well as a few freshmen who will be competing at the championship meet for the first time, so it should be a fun weekend for our women as we’re looking to make a championship run this year.”
Junior hurdles standout Jessica Ohanaja highlights the contingent of Lady Tigers making the trip to Arkansas this weekend as she enters the NCAA meet with the nation’s leading time in the 60-meter hurdles at 8.03 seconds. Ohanaja clocked her seasonal and personal best at the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships on Feb. 25 to win her first career SEC title in the event.
The Houston, Texas, native has been recognized among the premier track athletes in the nation for her performance during the indoor campaign as she was named the South Central Region Women’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year on Tuesday by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Ohanaja will be joined in the event by sophomore Nickiesha Wilson (8.16) and senior Angel Boyd (8.24) as the Lady Tigers are the only squad to qualify three athletes into the field of the women’s 60-meter hurdles competition.
The Lady Tigers are also the only squad with a trio of athletes competing in the 60-meter dash while also qualifying four athletes into the 200-meter sprint. Junior Kelly Baptiste (7.20/23.14), junior Sherry Fletcher (7.31/23.37) and freshman Samantha Henry (7.29/23.64) will double by competing in each event with junior Brooklynn Morris (23.26) being the squad’s fourth entry in the 200 meters.
Baptiste earned her first career individual All-America honors in her specialty events a season ago and enters the meet among the national title favorites once again. She joins Morris in making her team-leading third career appearance at the indoor championship meet, while Henry is the first LSU freshman since Baptiste in 2004 to qualify for nationals in both the 60 and 200 meters.
Similarly, the Lady Tigers will be the only squad to feature three competitors in the open quarter as Wilson, junior Deonna Lawrence and junior Cynetheia Rooks will line up alongside the nation’s best performers in the 400 meters.
Wilson finished the season as the nation’s fifth-fastest athlete in the event with a seasonal best time of 52.82 to finish third at the SEC Indoor Championships two weeks ago, while Lawrence is looking to earn individual All-America honors in the event for the second straight year as she enters with the nation’s sixth-fastest time at 52.94. Rooks is currently ranked No. 7 nationally with a seasonal best time of 53.08.
Freshman LaTavia Thomas, who won the 800-meter title in her first career appearance at the SEC meet with a time of 2 minutes, 5.76 seconds, will team with senior half miler Meisue Francis (2:06.02) to lead the Lady Tigers in the middle distances. Junior Kathy Coleman (20-8 ?) and sophomore Andrea Linton (43-4 ?) are the team’s lone qualifiers in the field events as they will compete in the long jump and triple jump, respectively.
“When I took this job three years ago, I thought it would be about three years before the women could be competitive at the national meet once again,” Shaver said. “That’s how it’s worked out for us, and the reality is that we’ve got some great athletes who have improved into championship caliber competitors. They’ve really started to show the characteristics of a championship team.”
The Tigers have won a pair of indoor national titles of their own in 2001 and 2004 are looking for their third championship in program history as they have qualified a total of seven athletes and a 4×400-meter relay team into this year’s meet.
Leading the way for the Tigers are a pair of SEC champions in junior quarter miler Reggie Dardar and freshman half miler Jamaal James. Dardar won his first career conference title in the 400 meters with the nation’s fourth-fastest time at 46.11 in the finals, while James clocked a seasonal and personal best time of 1:49.08 in the final heat of his first indoor conference meet.
Senior Siraj Williams (46.61) is set to join Dardar in the 400-meter competition as he is making his first career appearance at the championship meet, while sophomore Reuben Twijukye will team with James in the half mile after clocking the team’s fastest time in the event with a 1:48.70 at the Cyclone National Qualifier in Ames, Iowa, last weekend.
Junior Richard Thompson punched his ticket to the national meet two weeks ago after setting a new school record in the 60 meters at the SEC meet with a time of 6.64 and placing him in the sixth spot on the national list heading into the competition this weekend. Senior Alleyne Lett (7.79) and freshman Will Coppage (25-2 ?) are also slated to compete for the Tigers in the 60-meter hurdles and long jump, respectively.
“The men started the season unranked in both of the polls but have continued to show improvement and are now ranked in the Top 10,” Shaver said. “I think that’s a great tribute to the guys and how they’ve stepped up this year to fill the shoes of some really irreplaceable athletes we lost after last season. It’s going to be a really close track meet on the men’s side, and I’m looking forward to them getting out on the track and competing.”
The Tigers and Lady Tigers are looking to defend their national titles in the 1,600-meter relays after sweeping indoor titles last season. The women vaulted into the top spot on the national list with a time of 3:29.86 as they successfully defended their title at the SEC meet two weeks ago, while the men’s foursome brings the nation’s third-best time to the national meet at 3:06.09.
The Tigers earned a runner-up finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships last season behind the stellar performances of former LSU greats Kelly Willie and Xavier Carter, while a young Lady Tigers’ squad took seventh place. Arkansas is looking to defend its back-to-back indoor titles on the men’s side with the women’s squad from Texas aiming for their second straight indoor title and seventh in program history.
The first day of competition is scheduled to begin Friday with the men’s heptathlon at 9 a.m. CST followed by the day’s first field events at noon and running events beginning at 4:30 p.m. Saturday’s action features the conclusion of the heptathlon at 11 a.m., while the field events are slated to begin at 2 p.m. followed by the final running events at 6:15 p.m.