BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field teams will put the finishing touches on their preparation for next week’s SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., as they play host to the LSU Twilight Invitational at the Carl Maddox Field House on Friday.
The competition is set to get underway at 12:30 p.m. CT with the field events followed by the first events on the track at 5:30 p.m. Live results of the meet can be found online at www.LSUsports.net.
“This is an important time of year for both our teams as we prepare for the beginning of the championship season next weekend,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “We’ve been competing on the road each of the last three weekends, so we’re looking to rest many of our athletes this weekend so that they’ll be good to go for SEC Indoors. We want to give our athletes the best opportunity to succeed.
“But many of our athletes still have a great opportunity to step up and compete for us at the LSU Twilight meet. We always look for our athletes to give their best competitive effort each meet, and tomorrow night will be no different. This is the next step for us in our preparation for the postseason.”
The electricity is sure to come on the track in the men’s 60-meter dash as two Olympic medalists from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, will square off for the first time during the 2010 season.
Former LSU star and Olympic silver medalist Richard Thompson will battle former Florida State star and two-time Olympic bronze medalist Walter Dix with the prelims scheduled to run at 6:30 p.m.
After wrapping up his LSU career by being crowned the NCAA champion in the 100-meter dash in 2008, Thompson gained international fame by winning a silver medal in the event at the Olympic Games with a personal-best time of 9.89 seconds in the Olympic final. Dix, an eight-time NCAA champion with Florida State, won a pair of bronze medals in the 100 meters and 200 meters at the Beijing Games.
LSU will also feature six NCAA provisional qualifiers who will look to improve their marks on Friday to secure their spot in the field at this year’s NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Sophomore Barrett Nugent leads the way as he is just .01 seconds shy of the NCAA automatic qualifying standard in the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a seasonal-best time of 7.71. Nugent currently ranks No. 4 in the NCAA this season as he has run 7.80 or faster in seven of eight races in 2010.
Other NCAA provisional qualifiers competing for the Tigers include sophomore Michael Lauro in the 35-pound weight throw (67-1 ¾), sophomore Marcus McGehee in the pole vault (17-0 ¾) and freshman Damar Forbes in the long jump (24-11 ¾). The Lady Tigers will feature two NCAA provisional qualifiers in junior Tenaya Jones in the 60 hurdles (8.38) and junior Melissa Ogbourne in the triple jump (41-8 ½).
“We have a number of athletes competing this weekend who have a great opportunity to improve their position heading into the postseason,” Shaver said. “We’re going to need them to contribute if we hope to be in contention in the championship meets over the next couple of weeks.”
After playing host to the LSU Twilight on Friday, LSU will kick off the championships season at the SEC Indoor Championships set to begin Feb. 26 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark.