BATON ROUGE — The LSU women’s track and field team remains the nation’s No. 1 squad in this week’s Trackwire 25 after winning the SEC outdoor title on Sunday, while the men move into the No. 2 spot following their runner-up finish at the conference meet.
The Lady Tigers are projected to score 58 points at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in this week’s power ranking as they hold a slim two-point lead over Arizona State for the top spot. South Carolina (37), Auburn, (34) and Texas (33) round out the top-five.
The Tigers have closed the gap on No. 1 Florida State following an impressive showing at the SEC Outdoor Championships this past weekend as they trail by just three points with 51 in this week’s poll. The Seminoles are the nation’s top-ranked squad for the seventh straight week.
Both squads are also ranked No. 2 in the country in this week’s U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 20 after being ranked No. 4 going into the SEC meet this past weekend. The Arizona State women and Florida State men top the rankings for the sixth straight week in their respective rankings.
This week’s point total does not factor in the efforts of nine-time All-American Kelly Baptiste, who sat out the conference meet while nursing a back injury. Baptiste is set to return to the track at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships next weekend.
Despite Baptiste’s absence from this week’s rankings, the Lady Tigers feature 10 athletes who are ranked among the nation’s Top 12 performers in their respective events in the Trackwire Dandy Dozen, which ranks the top-12 athletes in each event scored at the NCAA Championships.
Juniors Jessica Ohanaja and Andrea Linton are the Lady Tigers’ top-ranked performers this week as they rank No. 2 in the 100-meter hurdles and triple jump, respectively, after winning SEC titles in each event this past weekend. Sophomore Nickiesha Wilson joins Ohanaja among the nation’s top hurdlers as she ranks third in both the 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles.
Leading the way for the Lady Tiger sprinters is senior All-American Sherry Fletcher, who ranks No. 4 in the 100 meters and No. 5 in the 200 meters this week. Fletcher is joined in the 200-meter dash by freshman Samantha Henry at No. 9 and junior Brooklynn Morris at No. 10.
Junior Cynetheia Rooks is ranked No. 5 this week in the 400-meter dash, while fellow junior Deonna Lawrence is also ranked among the nation’s top-12 performers in the event at No. 10. Freshman LaTavia Thomas, who is the reigning SEC indoor and outdoor champion in the 800 meters, is ranked No. 6 nationally in the event followed by senior Tanya Osbourne at No. 9.
On the men’s side, sophomore Trindon Holliday vaults into the No. 4 spot in the national rankings in the 100-meter dash following his school-record breaking performance of 10.08 seconds to win the SEC title in the event this past weekend.
Freshman SEC indoor and outdoor 800-meter champion Jamaal James moves up five spots to No. 2 this week in his event after clocking the fastest time in the NCAA this season at 1 minute, 47 seconds, which is also the new national junior record for an athlete under the age of 20 in his home country of Trinidad & Tobago.
Holliday is joined in the 100 meters by the nation’s 10th-ranked performer in junior Richard Thompson, while fellow junior Reuben Twijukye is also nationally ranked in the 800 meters at No. 5 this week.
The Tigers also feature one of the nation’s top quarter milers as senior Siraj Williams ranks No. 10 in the 400 meters. Senior Isa Phillips drops to No. 2 this week in the 400-meter hurdles, and senior Alleyne Lett improves to No. 7 in the 110-meter hurdles to give the Tigers a solid 1-2 punch in the hurdles heading into the last two meets of the season.
Sophomore throws standout Chad Radgowski is also the nation’s second-ranked performer in his specialty event after winning an SEC title in the javelin on Friday, while freshman indoor All-American Will Coppage is also ranked in the field events this week at No. 7 in the long jump.
The squads continue to boast four of the nation’s premier relay teams as the women are among the national favorites as they rank second in the 4×400 third in the 4×100-meter relay, while the men are also among the favorites to win at the NCAA meet with identical rankings in both events.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers will take this weekend off before returning to action at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in Columbia, Mo. The two-day meet is scheduled to take place from May 25-26 at Walton Stadium at the University of Missouri.
Trackwire 25
WOMEN
1. LSU, 58
2. Arizona State, 56
3. South Carolina, 37
4. Auburn, 34
5. Texas, 33
6. Georgia, 29
7. Texas A&M, 27
8. Stanford, 29
9. UCLA, 24
t10. Southern California, 23
t10. Michigan, 23
12. Oregon, 22
t13. Texas Tech, 21
t13. Arkansas, 21
t15. California, 17
t15. Nebraska, 17
17. Washington State, 15
18. Iowa, 13
t19. Miami, 12
t19. Georgia Tech, 12
t19. Tennessee, 12
t19. Kansas, 12
t19. Virginia Tech, 12
t24. Ole Miss, 11
t24. Northern Iowa, 11
MEN
1. Florida State, 54
2. LSU, 51
3. Auburn, 44
4. Southern California, 36
5. Oregon, 35
6. Tennessee, 31
7. Louisville, 30
t8. UCLA, 24
t8. Baylor, 24
10. Arizona State, 22
11. Clemson, 19
t12. Arkansas, 17
t12. Wisconsin, 17
14. North Carolina, 16
t15. BYU, 15
t15. Arizona, 15
t15. Liberty, 15
t15. Ole Miss, 15
t19. Washington, 14
t19. Texas Tech, 14
t19. Texas, 14
t19. Georgia, 14
t23. McNeese State, 13
t23. South Carolina, 13
t23. Kansas, 13
Coaches Poll
WOMEN
1. Arizona State
2. LSU
3. South Carolina
4. Auburn
5. Georgia
6. Texas A&M
7. UCLA
8. Texas
9. Michigan
10. Stanford
11. Southern California
12. Oregon
13. Texas Tech
14. California
15. Nebraska
16. Virginia Tech
17. Washington State
18. Georgia Tech
19. Miami
20. Arkansas
MEN
1. Florida State
2. LSU
3. Auburn
4. Southern California
5. Oregon
6. Tennessee
7. UCLA
8. Texas
9. Arizona State
10. Baylor
11. Wisconsin
12. Arkansas
13. North Carolina
14. Louisville
15. Clemson
16. Arizona
17. Washington
18. Ole Miss
19. BYU
20. Texas Tech