BATON ROUGE — After spending the last two weekends on the road, the LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams will return to the friendly confines of the Bernie Moore Track Stadium on Saturday to host the fifth-annual Alumni Gold meet.
The meet is scheduled to get underway at 11:30 a.m. as the field events open with the men’s and women’s long jump competitions. The afternoon’s first running events are set to begin at 2 p.m. with the 3,000-meter steeplechase followed by the running of the 4×100 relays at 2:30 p.m.
LSU welcomes an impressive field as the second-ranked Lady Tigers will compete against the likes of No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 17 Tennessee, while LSU’s fourth-ranked men’s squad goes up against No. 19 Texas A&M. The men’s and women’s teams from Houston and the men from Alabama and East Carolina are also slated to compete this weekend.
“We have received tremendous support for this meet from some great teams across the country,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “All of the events are going to be really competitive for the men and the women, and the weather is supposed to be perfect. We’re looking forward to that.”
While the Alumni Gold will feature many of the nation’s premier athletes at the college level, several former LSU All-Americans and national champions are scheduled to open up their professional outdoor seasons at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium on Saturday.
Among those who will open the outdoor season this weekend are Lolo Jones in the 100 hurdles; Stephanie Durst in the 200; Derrick Brew, Xavier Carter, Alleyne Francique and Ronetta Smith in the 400; Neisha Bernard-Thomas and Marian Burnett in the 800; John Moffitt in the long jump and Walter Davis in the triple jump.
In addition, Brew, Carter and Francique will join former LSU national champion Pete Coley on the foursome that will close the meet by competing in the 4×400-meter relay at 7 p.m.
“It’s tremendous that we have so many of our professionals use the Alumni Gold to open their outdoor seasons,” Shaver said. “Many of them continue to train here at LSU and are looking to take the first step in making their respective teams for the World Championships this summer.”
A total of 19 graduating seniors will also be honored on Saturday as they make the final appearance of their LSU careers at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium. The men will be recognized at 6:12 p.m. followed by the women at 6:32 p.m.
The men include Austin Benton, Jon Chretien, Matthew Guy, Alleyne Lett, Jeffrey Parker, Isa Phillips, Brandon Racca, Melville Rogers, Marvin Stevenson and Siraj Williams, while the women feature Kate Accardo, Shaunette Davidson, Sherry Fletcher, Meisue Francis, Rachael Graham, Tina Harris, Tanya Osbourne, Jennifer Radecker and Cynetheia Rooks.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers follow the Alumni Gold with a trip to Philadelphia on Thursday to compete in the 113th running of the Penn Relays at Franklin Field. The championship season is set to begin May 10 with the first day of the SEC Outdoor Championships at Sam Bailey Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.