BATON ROUGE – The LSU track and field program has won 31 NCAA team championships while attracting many of the nation’s premier athletes to Baton Rouge each season, and the Tigers and Lady Tigers have certainly added much needed firepower for the 2011 season with the signing of eight student-athletes during the early part of the spring signing period.
The Tigers have signed a pair of potential stars who look to make an immediate impact in 2011, while the Lady Tigers have inked six standouts of their own during the February signing period.
The Tigers welcome junior college sprinter Horatio Williams of Starkville, Miss., and prep standout Keith Griffith of Burlington, N.J., into the program as their first two signings of the Class of 2010.
The Lady Tigers welcome the addition of junior college sprinter Rebecca Alexander of Baton Rouge, La.; jumper Jen Clayton of Suffern, N.Y.; hurdler Jasmin Stowers of Pendleton, S.C.; and throwers Jenna Baker of Covington, La., Karen Henning of Kings Park, N.Y., and Annie Simoneaux of Rayne, La.
2010 LSU Track & Field Signing Class
| Women | |||||
| Rebecca Alexander |
Sprints |
5-6 |
Baton Rouge, La. (Belaire HS/Southwest Mississippi CC) | ||
| Jenna Baker |
Javelin |
5-7 |
Covington, La. (Mandeville HS) | ||
| Jen Clayton |
Jumps |
5-7 |
Suffern, N.Y. (Suffern HS) | ||
| Karen Henning |
Throws |
5-5 |
Kings Park, N.Y. (St. Anthony’s HS) | ||
| Annie Simoneaux |
Javelin |
5-7 |
Rayne, La. (Rayne HS) | ||
| Jasmin Stowers |
Hurdles |
5-9 |
Pendleton, S.C. (Pendleton HS) | ||
| Men | |||||
| Keith Griffith |
Middle Distance |
6-1 |
Burlington, N.J. (Florence Township Memorial HS) | ||
| Horatio Williams |
Sprints |
6-2 |
Starkville, Miss. (Oxford HS/Hinds CC) | ||
“We are off to a great start with our recruiting class, and we are very excited that these eight athletes have decided to continue their athletic and academic careers with us here at LSU,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “We feel like that we have signed a great mixture of youth and experience across all event areas in the early signing period that is sure to make an immediate impact for us going forward.
“This is always just the beginning for us. We welcome the very best student-athletes in the country to be a part of our team, and we look forward to building even stronger relationships with them in the future.”
In Williams, the Tigers have signed the No. 1-ranked short sprinter returning to the junior college ranks in 2010 following a brilliant freshman season at Hinds Community College a year ago.
Williams was a five-time All-American in the National Junior College Athletics Association during a true freshman season, including a NJCAA Outdoor national title as a member of the 4×100-meter relay that set a seasonal-best time of 39.06 seconds for Hinds at the NJCAA Outdoor Championships.
Williams also earned NJCAA Outdoor All-America honors with a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter dash and a third-place finish in the 200-meter dash at the national meet in Hutchinson, Kan. He set his personal best 100-meter time of 10.26 and his personal-best 200-meter time of 20.48 during the preliminary rounds at the 2009 NJCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships a year ago.
LSU has also added one of the top middle distance prospects in the Northeast by signing Griffith from the program at Florence Township Memorial High School in Burlington, N.J.
Griffith joins the program with personal bests of 48.31 in the 400-meter dash and 1 minute, 52.94 seconds in the 800-meter run that were established during his junior season in 2009. His indoor personal record of 48.64 currently ranks No. 3 in the country among all high school classifications in 2010.
“We are certainly pleased that an athlete with the talent level and potential of Horatio Williams is joining our program,” Shaver said. “We got a glimpse of his potential as a freshman at Hinds Community College and believe that he has the work ethic to go along with that talent to continue the rich sprinting tradition at LSU. He will certainly make an immediate impact for our men’s team.
“We’re also very happy to have Keith Griffith joining our program. Keith is a physically-gifted athlete we think can thrive in the competitive environment we have here at LSU. He’ll be a welcomed addition to the middle distance group, but he’s also a guy with the kind of range that will give us depth in our relays.”
The Lady Tigers have signed a junior college national champion of their own as Alexander is the reigning NJCAA Outdoor 400-meter champion for Southwest Mississippi Community College.
A Baton Rouge native and graduate of Belaire High School, Alexander set her personal record of 53.17 in the 400-meter final at the 2009 NJCAA Outdoor Championships to take the title. She also earned NJCAA All-America honors in the 200-meter dash during both the indoor and outdoor seasons a year ago. Her top time of 23.78 was set en route to a national runner-up finish during the outdoor season.
In Stowers, the Lady Tigers have added the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruit in the sprint hurdles and are sure to be competitive on a national level in the event for years to come.
A product of Pendleton High School in Pendleton, S.C., Stowers captured the 100-meter hurdles crown at both the USA Track & Field Junior Olympics and Nike Outdoor Nationals during a brilliant junior season in 2009. She is also the reigning Nike Indoor Nationals champion in the 60-meter hurdles following a win in the event a year ago. Stowers is a two-time USA Today All-USA selection in 2008 and 2009.
Stowers wrapped up the 2009 season ranked No. 1 in the country among all classifications with a personal best of 8.30 in the 60-meter hurdles and a seasonal best of 13.59 in the 100-meter hurdles. She set a PR of 13.52 in the 100 hurdles at the IAAF World Youth Championships during the 2007 season.
The LSU women will also receive a spark in the horizontal jumps next season with the signing of Clayton as she joins the program from Suffern High School as the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruit in the long jump.
Clayton set an overall personal-best mark of 20 feet, 10 ¾ inches in the qualifying round of the long jump at the 2009 IAAF World Youth Championships in Italy before winning a bronze medal for the United States with a leap of 19-10 ¼ in the final. Her top mark of 20-10 ¾ ranked No. 1 in the country among all prep classifications and No. 2 in the world by an athlete under the age of 18 in 2009.
The reigning USATF World Youth Track & Field Trials champion and USA Today All-USA honoree has already posted an indoor personal best of 20-5 ¾ during the 2010 indoor season to rank No. 1 in the USA.
“We knew that we really needed to sign athletes for our women’s team who could come in right away and compete at the NCAA level. We feel like we’ve certainly accomplished that goal in the early stages of our recruiting class,” Shaver said. “Rebecca Alexander is a homegrown talent who is probably the top sprinter in the junior college ranks returning this season, and both Jasmin Stowers and Jen Clayton were ranked at the top of the national list in their events last season.
“They certainly have the potential to come in and make an immediate impact for us in three event areas. It is tremendous for our team that they have decided to join our program here at LSU.”
The Lady Tigers have also added depth in the throwing events with the Class of 2010 as Henning signs on from St. Anthony’s High School in Kings Park, N.Y., as one of the nation’s top performers in the hammer throw and weight throw for this year’s recruiting class.
The sister of LSU junior All-American and NCAA title hopeful Walter Henning, Karen Henning captured the hammer throw crown at the USATF World Youth Track & Field Trials after winning the bronze medal at the Nike Outdoor Nationals during her junior season in 2009. She joins the program with PRs of 53-4 in the weight throw and 164-3 in the hammer throw events.
By signing both Baker and Simoneaux, the Lady Tigers have added two of the premier javelin throwers in the state of Louisiana for the Class of 2010. A product of Mandeville High School, Baker is the defending Class 5A state champion in the javelin after posting a personal-best mark of 139-11 at the 2009 state meet in Baton Rouge. Simoneaux, who boasts a PR of 142-10 in the javelin, is the reigning Class 3A champion in both the javelin and discus while competing for Rayne High School.
“We have certainly added much needed depth in the throws with this recruiting class. We’re fortunate that we’ve signed three athletes with the ability to contribute right away at the SEC level,” Shaver said. “They also have the potential to compete on a national level by developing in our throws program.
“By signing eight student-athletes of this quality both on and off the track, we’re off to a tremendous start in our recruiting efforts for this class. We look forward to what the future holds for each one of these men and women as they grow and mature in the competitive environment we have here at LSU.”