BATON ROUGE — After competing in the Tyson Invitational this past weekend, the Tigers race toward the postseason at No. 6 with the Lady Tigers coming in at No. 9 in the latest U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Association Top 25 released Wednesday afternoon.
The Tigers have moved up two spots after being ranked No. 8 a week ago, while the Lady Tigers have dropped four spots following their No. 5 ranking in last week’s poll.
The teams have combined for a total of four automatic qualifiers and 21 provisional qualifiers for the 2009 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Texas, on March 13-14.
The men have been led this season by the performance of junior Trindon Holliday and sophomore Walter Henning. Holliday is an automatic qualifier in the 60-meter dash and boasts the nation’s second-fastest time in the event at 6.56, while Henning also ranks No. 2 nationally in the weight throw with a seasonal-best and personal-best mark of 73 feet, 4 ? inches.
Defending NCAA Indoor champion LaTavia Thomas is qualified to defend her crown in the 800 meters with a top time of 2 minutes, 4.54 seconds, while freshman Rachel Laurent is also an auto qualifier in the pole vault with a seasonal best clearance of 13-9 ?.
LSU will put the finishing touches on its preparation for the postseason this weekend as the team plays host to the LSU Twilight Invitational on Friday at the Carl Maddox Field House. The LSU men and women will then head to Lexington, Ky., to compete in the SEC Indoor Championships to be held at the Nutter Field House from Feb. 27-March 1.
USTFCCCA Top 25 (Feb. 18, 2009)
MEN
1. Oregon, 168.88
2. Arkansas, 149.53
3. Florida State, 101.50
4. Texas A&M, 95.61
5. Nebraska, 91.74
6. LSU, 84.32
7. Florida, 76.07
8. Texas, 75.19
9. Oklahoma, 68.82
10. Texas Tech, 67.20
11. Minnesota, 62.38
12. Arizona State, 60.57
13. Georgia, 59.43
14. UCLA, 59.37
15. Baylor, 57.50
16. Oklahoma State, 50.79
17. Kentucky, 50.54
18. BYU, 46.73
19. Michigan State, 45.63
20. Washington, 43.16
21. Auburn, 43.07
22. South Carolina, 42.37
23. Missouri, 42.31
24. Arizona, 40.66
25. Kansas State, 40.57
WOMEN
1. Texas A&M, 146.65
2. Oregon, 108.12
3. Tennessee, 107.41
4. Michigan, 95.27
5. Penn State, 90.86
6. Florida State, 85.49
7. Arizona State, 81.48
8. Virginia Tech, 79.60
9. LSU, 77.60
10. Arizona, 77.12
11. Texas, 68.91
12. Texas Tech, 67.16
13. North Carolina, 65.67
14. BYU, 64.65
15. Baylor, 62.70
16. Arkansas, 62.21
17. Miami (Fla.), 62.11
18. Auburn, 56.32
19. Minnesota, 56.21
20. Connecticut, 52.04
21. Florida, 50.05
22. Washington, 49.61
23. Colorado, 49.38
24. Nebraska, 48.88
25. Stanford, 48.71