BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field teams look forward to the first week of April each year as they make their return to Austin, Texas, to compete in the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays as the 82nd edition of the meet is scheduled for this weekend at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
While the meet starts on Wednesday with the men’s decathlon and women’s heptathlon, LSU will not compete for the first time until Thursday. The four-day meet is set to wrap up on Saturday.
Each year, the Texas Relays provides and early season glimpse at many of the programs that look to be in the national title hunt at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June.
“We look forward to coming back to the Texas Relays each year, not only because of the history, but also because it is the first chance we get to see many of the top teams from around the country who we will meet at the NCAA Championships,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “We want to see where we are at this stage of the game against the best teams in the country.”
The Tigers feature a pair of All-Americans who will make their outdoor season debut at the Texas Relays as sophomore Walter Henning competes in the university section of the men’s hammer throw on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. while senior Trindon Holliday will line up in the invitational 100-meter dash on Saturday at 4:04 p.m.
Holliday is looking to become the second Tiger in a row to win the invitational 100 at Texas after former Tiger Richard Thompson won last year’s crown with a then school-record time of 10.00 in 2008 debut. Holliday won the university 100-meter dash a year ago with a time of 10.20 seconds.
While LSU features some of the nation’s top individual performers this weekend, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will also be tested against many of the nation’s elite 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams.
The Tigers, who are the defending NCAA champions in the 4×100-meter relay, are also the five-time defending champions of the event at the Texas Relays. They must defeat a field that features five teams that earned All-America honors in the NCAA final a year ago, including second-place Texas A&M, fourth-place Florida State, sixth-place Baylor and seventh-place TCU.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay appears to be just as strong with six teams in the field that earned a NCAA All-America honor at this year’s NCAA Indoor Championships on March 14.
The Tigers were named indoor All-American’s in the 4×400-meter relay after placing sixth in the event at the NCAA meet, while they will line up against NCAA champion Baylor, NCAA runner-up Florida State, fifth-place Texas, seventh-place Texas Tech and eighth-place Washington State.
On their 4×100 relay, the Tigers will likely run with a foursome of Armanti Hayes, Will Coppage, Gabriel Mvumvure and Holliday; while they will feature an order of Hayes, Jamar Howard, Ade Alleyne-Forte and Robert Simmons on their 4×400-meter relay.
The women’s relays are sure to be just as exciting as the Lady Tigers are one of four teams in this year’s field that earned All-America honors with a top eight finish in the 4×100 at the NCAA meet last season. LSU, which was the NCAA runner-up a season ago, will race against defending NCAA champion Texas A&M, third-place Baylor and fifth-place Texas-El Paso.
The women’s 4×400-meter relay features three indoor All-America squads from the NCAA meet in March, including NCAA champion Texas A&M, fourth-place TCU and sixth-place Texas.
The Lady Tigers will be in the hunt with a foursome of Kristina Davis, Cassandra Tate, Samantha Henry and Kenyanna Wilson on their 4×100 relay and a team of Tate, Brittany Hall, Kayann Thompson and LaTavia Thomas on their 4×400-meter relay.
“I’m very excited about seeing our 4×100 and 4×400 relays line up in this kind of environment to see where they are this early in the season,” Shaver said. “The sprint relay is always a race to the finish at this meet, and the 4x400s will be a great preview of what we will see at the NCAA meet in June. I want to see where we are against the very best teams in the country.”
LSU has experienced great success at the Texas Relays since the inaugural event in 1925 with the Lady Tigers being named the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays Most Outstanding Team four times, while having five athletes named the meet’s Most Outstanding Performer. Lolo Jones is the last to receive that honor at the 76th running of the meet during the 2003 season.
Schowanda Williams was the first Lady Tiger to be named the MOP in 1987, while Dawn Sowell (1989), Dawn Bowles (1992) and Cheryl Taplin (1994) have also received the honor.
In addition, the Lady Tigers have won a total of 30 relay titles in the meet’s illustrious history and have been especially dominant in the sprint relays as they boast nine victories in the 4×100, six in the 4×200 and four in the 4×400-meter relays.
The men have enjoyed similar success as they have captured a total of 26 relay championships and are looking to defend their title in the prestigious Clyde Littlefield 4×100-Meter Relay from a year ago. In fact, the Tigers are the five-time defending champion in the 4×100-meter relay while capturing a total of eight titles in the event all-time at the Texas Relays.
Not only that, but set a record by winning its fifth-straight Clyde Littlefield 4×100-Meter Relay a year ago as no other team has won more than four. TCU won four titles from 1986-89.
Unlike their female counterparts, the Tigers have never been named the meet’s Most Outstanding Team and have never had an athlete named the Most Outstanding Performer.
“This meet has such a rich history and has featured many of the premier athletes in our sport since it was first run way back in 1925,” Shaver said. “At LSU, we’re very fortunate to have been a big part of that and to have carved our little niche in one of the truly great spectacles in track and field in the Texas Relays. We expect another great competition again this weekend.”
After competing at the Texas Relays this weekend, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will spend Spring Break in Tempe, Ariz., as they are scheduled to make an appearance at the Sun Angel Classic to be held at Sun Angel Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University from April 10-11.