BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field teams hit the road for the first time this season as they travel to Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday to compete in the Razorback Invitational hosted by the University of Arkansas at the Randal Tyson Track Center.
The meet kicks off Friday at 3 p.m. with the field events followed by the first events on the track at 6:10 p.m., while it continues Saturday on the track at noon and in the field at 1 p.m.
The Lady Tigers enter the meet ranked No. 1 in the country according to the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, while the Tigers are currently ranked No. 5 in the nation according to the preseason poll released by the organization on Dec. 17.
The squads will get their first taste of elite competition this weekend as they line up against a strong field that features the likes of such nationally-ranked programs as host Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Oral Roberts, Texas, Texas A&M and Tulsa.
This marks the first of four trips that the Tigers and Lady Tigers will make to Fayetteville during the indoor season as the Randal Tyson Track Center also plays host to the Tyson Invitational (Feb. 15-16), SEC Championships (Feb. 29-March 2) and NCAA Championships (March 14-15).
“This weekend is going to be a great learning experience for both of our teams because it will be the first time this season our athletes get a chance to run on a banked track,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “It’s going to be interesting to see the transition they make to running on a banked track after not having seen one since the NCAA Championships last March.
“It’s also one of those things that will help us get acclimated to what it’s like competing at the SEC and NCAA meets because we’ll be running on the same track and against elite fields.”
A trio of Lady Tiger standouts will be in action after qualifying automatically for the NCAA Championships at the Purple Tiger Classic. Senior Juanita Broaddus is set to line up in the 60-meter dash, junior Nickiesha Wilson will compete in the 400 meters and sophomore Samantha Henry will make her season debut in the 200 meters.
Broaddus and Henry each clocked the fastest time in the NCAA and the third-fastest time in the world this season with matching efforts of 7.26 seconds in the finals of 60-meter dash Saturday, while Wilson is already an automatic qualifier in the 60 hurdles with a top time of 8.12.
For her efforts, Henry was named this week’s SEC Female Runner of the Week for the first time in her LSU career as she is now tied for sixth on the school’s all-time indoor list in the 60 meters.
Four NCAA provisional qualifiers are also set to compete in the Razorback Invitational as junior Andrea Linton (triple jump) and sophomore Katelyn Rodrigue (pole vault) lead the Lady Tigers’ effort in the field events, while seniors Kelly Baptiste (200) and Jessica Ohanaja (60 hurdles) join a deep field in the sprints and hurdles.
A number of LSU athletes will also make their season debut in their respective specialty events, including returning All-Americans Will Coppage (long jump), Reggie Dardar (400), Brooklynn Morris (400) and Richard Thompson (60 meters).
In addition, a pair of highly-touted newcomers will be making their collegiate debuts in their specialties as sophomore Patrick Lee lines up alongside senior Ryan Fontenot in the 60 hurdles and freshman Zedric Thomas takes to the runway in the triple jump for the first time this season.
“We’re not going to try to overdo it when we go to Fayetteville this weekend,” Shaver said. “The vast majority of our athletes will only be competing in one event, but that’s what they need at this point in the season. We’re just trying to see where they’re at right now in their training.
“This weekend is all about going there for the first time this season and running on the same oval we’ll see when we go back for the SEC and NCAA Championships in a couple of months.”
After competing in the Razorback Invitational this weekend, the Tigers and Lady Tigers return home to host the LSU Combined Events and the Bayou Bengal Invitational from Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse. They will then make their annual trip to New York on the weekend of Feb. 8 to compete in the prestigious New Balance Collegiate Invitational.