BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s track and field team will head to the Penn Relays this weekend as the No. 1 team in the country as it takes over the top spot in the latest Trackwire 25 released Tuesday, while the men’s squad vaults into the No. 2 spot in this week’s poll.
The Lady Tigers grab the No. 1 spot for the first time during the outdoor season as they are projected to score 64 points at the national meet, while the Arizona State Sun Devils fall to No. 2 with 56 points after sitting atop the standings the past three weeks.
The Tigers jump three spots in this week’s power ranking as they are projected to finish as the national runner-up with 49 points, while the Florida State Seminoles are the consensus No. 1 team for the fourth straight week at 68 points. Auburn (42), Southern California (37) and Texas (31) round out the nation’s top five.
In addition, both squads hold strong among the top five teams in the nation in this week’s U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 20 as the women are ranked No. 2 in the country for the third straight week, while the men are No. 4 for the second week in a row.
The Lady Tigers are led by a total of 10 athletes and two relay teams who are nationally ranked in this week’s Trackwire Dandy Dozen, which is a listing of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each event that is scored at the national meet.
Nickiesha Wilson is the nation’s new No. 1 performer in the 400-meter hurdles after clocking the world’s fastest time in the event this past weekend with a new personal best of 55.87 seconds. She is also the seventh-ranked athlete in the country in the 100-meter hurdles as she is qualified to compete at the regional meet with a seasonal best time of 13.32.
Kelly Baptiste and Sherry Fletcher are also nationally ranked in more than one event as Baptiste is No. 2 in the 100-meter dash and No. 4 in the 200 meters, while Fletcher is the Lady Tigers’ top ranked athlete in the 200-meter sprint at No. 3 while coming in at No. 12 in the 100 meters.
The Lady Tigers also feature one of the nation’s deepest squads in the 400 meters as Deonna Lawrence is sixth, Cynetheia Rooks is seventh and Brooklynn Morris is eighth in this week’s poll. In addition, LaTavia Thomas is projected to score for the Lady Tigers as she is ranked No. 4 in the 800-meter run, while Jessica Ohanaja joins Wilson in the 100 hurdles at No. 5.
In the field events, Amanda Harmata is one of the nation’s premier performers in the javelin as she comes in at No. 9 this week, and Andrea Linton is ranked in the long jump for the first time this season as she enters the Dandy Dozen at No. 11.
The Tigers are just as strong as a total of 12 athletes and two relay teams are ranked among the nation’s top performers in their respective specialty event in this week’s Trackwire Dandy Dozen.
Isa Phillips is the nation’s top-ranked performer in the 400-meter hurdles for the second week in a row as the Tigers are projected to sweep national titles in the event at the national meet. Alleyne Lett is also a threat in the 110-meter hurdles for the Tigers as he is ranked No. 5 in the event.
Trindon Holliday is considered the team’s best short sprinter as he is ranked No. 12 in the 100-meter dash for the second straight week, while the Tigers also feature a pair of nationally ranked athletes in the 400 meters as Marvin Stevenson enters the ranking for the first time at No. 10 and Siraj Williams holds steady at No. 12.
In addition, the Tigers also feature one of the nation’s deepest middle distance squads as Reuben Twijukye and Jamaal James are ranked No. 6 and No. 7, respectively, in the 800 meters.
A total of five athletes are also ranked in the field events led by jumps standouts Jeremy Hicks, Will Coppage and Reggie Haslom. Hicks is the nation’s fifth-ranked performer in the long jump, while Coppage follows in the event at No. 7 and Haslom is ranked No. 11 in the triple jump.
Chad Radgowski moves into the No. 2 spot in the javelin in this week’s Dandy Dozen after recording a new career best throw of 236 feet at the LSU Alumni Gold this past weekend, while he is joined in the event by Preston Chatham at No. 6.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers continue to boast four of the nation’s premier relay teams as the women are ranked second in the 4×100-meter relay, while taking over the top spot in the 4×400 relay after clocking the world’s fastest time this past weekend. The men hold steady at No. 2 in the 4×400 and move up four spots to No. 4 in the sprint relay.
The squads will wrap up the regular season this weekend as they travel to Franklin Field in Philadelphia, Pa., to compete in the 113th running of the Penn Relays hosted by the University of Pennsylvania. The three-day meet is scheduled to begin Thursday and run through Saturday.
Trackwire 25
WOMEN
1. LSU, 64
2. Arizona State, 56
3. Southern California, 33
t4. Georgia, 32
t4. South Carolina, 32
6. Michigan, 27
7. Oregon, 25
t8. Texas A&M, 24
t8. Auburn, 24
t8. Miami, Fla., 24
11. Texas, 23
12. Stanford, 22
13. Texas Tech, 20
14. Virginia Tech, 19
15. Nebraska, 18
16. Georgia Tech, 16
t17. UCLA, 14
t17. BYU, 14
t19. Tennessee, 13
t19. Washington State, 13
t19. Kansas, 13
t22. California, 12
t22. Wake Forest, 12
t22. UTEP, 12
t25. Washington, 11
t25. Duke, 11
t25. Colorado, 11
MEN
1. Florida State, 68
2. LSU, 49
3. Auburn, 42
4. Southern California, 37
5. Texas, 31
6. Arizona State, 30
7. Louisville, 28
8. Oregon, 27
t9. Tennessee, 23
t9. Wisconsin, 23
t9. BYU, 23
12. Baylor, 22
13. Clemson, 21
t14. UCLA, 19
t14. North Carolina, 19
16. Arkansas, 18
17. Stanford, 17
t18. Arizona, 16
t18. McNeese State, 16
t18. Texas A&M, 16
21. Washington, 14
22. South Alabama, 13
23. Texas Tech, 12
t24. Liberty, 11
t24. Ole Miss, 11
Coaches’ Poll
WOMEN
1. Arizona State
2. LSU
3. South Carolina
4. Georgia
5. Southern California
6. Texas
7. Auburn
8. Texas A&M
9. Michigan
10. Oregon
11. UCLA
12. Stanford
13. Miami, Fla.
14. Texas Tech
15. California
16. Nebraska
17. Minnesota
18. Georgia Tech
19. Washington State
20. Tennessee
MEN
1. Florida State
2. Auburn
3. Southern California
4. LSU
5. Texas
6. Arizona State
7. Oregon
8. Arizona
9. Tennessee
10. Arkansas
11. North Carolina
12. Washington
13. Wisconsin
14. Louisville
15. Clemson
16. Texas Tech
17. Georgia
18. Baylor
19. UCLA
20. (tie) BYU and UTEP