The LSU track and field teams are gearing up for another banner year this spring and are in the midst of a strenuous fall training regimen designed to help them compete against the nation’s best. The Tigers and Lady Tigers form the premier combined program in all of collegiate track and field with an impressive 31 NCAA championships and 46 Southeastern Conference championships all-time.
Second in a nine-part series updating LSU’s progress during the fall training season will focus on the middle distance and distance groups.
BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field program has established a reputation as having one of the top group of middle distance runners in the country with its performance in recent years, and 2010 has the potential to be another banner season for assistant head coach Mark Elliott and his crew.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers have spent much of their time during the first five weeks of their fall training schedule building an endurance base that will lead to maximum performance in the spring.
As part of their training, LSU’s middle distance athletes have already logged hundreds of miles this fall while repeating runs that feature a slower pace with shorter rests between intervals. They have also taken part in extensive hill training and stadium runs to help build their endurance base.
Not only that, but Elliott leads his squad through Olympic weight training and general strength training in the weight room two days each week while focusing on maximum repetitions using reduced weight.
“I’m very pleased with the progress that we’ve made in training to this point and the attitude and intensity our athletes have shown in preparing themselves for the season,” Elliott said. “I am very excited about the potential of the middle distance group on both the men’s and women’s teams. It has the potential to be the deepest and most talented group in terms of numbers that we’ve had in my time at LSU.”
Elliott also stressed the importance of the fall cross country season in the training of his middle distance and distance athletes as they prepare to compete in their respective events in the spring. LSU has a total of three more cross county meets on the schedule, including the SEC Championships on Oct. 31.
“Our distance runners are always in season with cross country in the fall and track in the spring, but cross country season also serves as a way for our middle distance athletes to build the endurance base they need to succeed in the spring,” Elliott said. “It helps us get our mileage up, which would be a vital part of their workout whether or not they ran cross country.
“We’re also fortunate that many of our middle distance runners have the talent and ability to contribute to the overall success of the cross country team. We’ve already seen that this year.”
LaTavia Thomas returns for her senior season to lead the Lady Tigers after earning All-America honors in 2009 with a third-place finish in the 800 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Thomas set a new overall personal best of 2 minutes, 1.56 seconds to take third in the NCAA final.
Thomas is a former NCAA champion in the event after taking home the title at the NCAA Indoor meet as a sophomore in 2008. She followed that performance with a fifth-place finish indoors a year ago.
Thomas will team with fellow senior Kayann Thompson, junior Brittany Hall and freshman star Charlene Lipsey to perhaps the most talented group of middle distance runners in the country this spring. Hall took home All-America honors with a sixth-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor meet in 2009 and has clocked a PR of 2:03.68 in the event. Thompson finished with a 2009 seasonal best of 2:03.64.
Lipsey, a native of Hempstead, N.Y., signed with the Lady Tigers last spring as one of the top 800-meters recruits in the country with a personal-best time of 2:05.83 to rank No. 3 nationally for the Class of 2009.
The Tigers are also looking forward to another successful season in 2010 as Richard Jones returns for his junior season after earning All-America honors a year ago. Jones set three-straight personal records in the rounds at the NCAA Outdoor Championships en route to a fifth-place finish in the final with a top time of 1:47.10 to rank as the No. 6 performance all-time at LSU.
Senior Jamaal James will also help lead the squad with a personal best of 1:47.00 set during his freshman season, while sophomore Garrek Thompson (1:51.37) and freshman Sadiki White (1:52.40) will provide a solid foundation for one of the strongest men’s teams in the country this spring.