BATON ROUGE – With the start of the 2010 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships just eight days away, LSU’s athletes who have yet to qualify for the event have one last chance to do so at one of two last chance meets to be held this weekend.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers play host to the LSU NCAA Indoor Qualifier on Friday, while LSU will also send four athletes to the Iowa State NCAA Qualifier in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday.
A total of 11 athletes who have already met the NCAA provisional qualifying standard in their events are scheduled to compete at LSU’s Carl Maddox Field House on Saturday.
Among the Tigers competing are senior Will Coppage (long jump), junior Marcus McGehee (pole vault), sophomore Michael Lauro (weight throw) and freshman Damar Forbes (long jump, triple jump). Among the Lady Tigers competing at home include senior Kristina Davis (60 meters), senior Samantha Henry (60 meters), senior Katelyn Rodrigue (pole vault), junior Kenyanna Wilson (60 meters), junior Tenaya Jones (60 hurdles), freshmen Kimberlyn Duncan and freshman Takeia Pinckney (60 meters).
The LSU NCAA Indoor Qualifier is slated to get underway at 3:30 p.m. CT with the field events followed by the first events on the track at 6:30 p.m.
In addition, LSU has four 800-meter runners set to make the trip to Ames, Iowa, on Saturday to run in the Iowa State NCAA Qualifier at the Lied Recreation Center.
The Tigers are sending senior Jamaal James and freshman Sadiki White to run the half mile at Iowa State, while the Lady Tigers are sending junior Brittany Hall and freshman Charlene Lipsey.
James is already in a strong position to qualify for the NCAA Championships as his top time of 1 minute, 48.73 seconds ranks No. 13 in the country this season. White must improve his time of 1:49.62 that ranks No. 29 nationally heading into the weekend. Hall currently ranks No. 18 in the NCAA with a top time of 2:06.36 and Lipsey currently ranks No. 40 in the NCAA with a time of 2:08.24.
The track at the Lied Recreation Center is conducive to running fast times as it includes a 300-meter oval with 42-inch lanes, making it one of the largest and fastest indoor surfaces in the world.
The indoor season will come to an exciting conclusion next weekend as the nation’s best teams will go up against one another for the right to be crowned this year’s indoor national champion at the 2010 NCAA Division I Indoor Track &Field Championships to be held March 12-13 at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark. Arkansas also played host to the 2010 SEC Indoor Championships last weekend.