BATON ROUGE – The LSU track and field teams anticipate the first weekend of April each season as they make their annual trip to Austin, Texas, to compete against an NCAA Championships caliber field in the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, and this year is no exception as the 83rd edition of the meet is slated to run 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 line up to compete for the first time until Thursday. The four-day meet is set to wrap up on Saturday.
As one of the premier attractions of the outdoor season, the Texas Relays provides an early season look at many of the programs that are sure to be in the national title hunt at the NCAA Championships in June.
“We look forward to coming back and competing in the Texas Relays each season,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “Not only is it special to come back here and enjoy the rich history and tradition that is the Texas Relays, but it also gives us our first chance to compete against many of the teams we will see at the NCAA Championships. We want to see where we are at this stage against the best teams.”
NCAA Indoor champion Walter Henning is set to make his outdoor season debut this weekend as he steps into the circle for the university section of the men’s hammer throw competition on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.
In his last competition, Henning captured his first career NCAA title while capturing the 35-pound weight throw at the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 13 with a winning throw of 77 feet, 3 ¾ inches. Not only that, but Henning improved his personal best in the event by nearly four feet this year as the finished the 2010 campaign with the top mark in the NCAA at 78-1 set at the SEC Championships.
Henning is poised to challenge for his first career NCAA crown in the hammer this spring after ending his sophomore season as the national runner-up while finishing in second place at the NCAA meet. He boasts an impressive personal-best mark of 235-11 in the event that was set in 2009.
While LSU features many of the nation’s top individual performers this weekend, the electricity is sure to come from the relay events that have solidified the reputation of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays.
Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers will compete in seven different relay events at this week’s Texas Relays, including the 4×100, 4×200, 4×400, 4×800, 4×1,500, sprint medley and distance medley relays.
The Lady Tigers enter the meet as the defending champions in three relays following their victory in each of the 4×400, 4×800 and sprint medley relays in 2009. In fact, they are the two-time defending champions in both the 4×400-meter and 4×800-meter relays at the Texas Relays with wins in 2008 and 2009.
As is the case each season, the 4×100-meter relay is sure to be a hotly-contested event in both genders this weekend. The Tigers are the top team in the field from last year’s NCAA Championships as they earned a national runner-up finish in the national final. They will line up against three other NCAA finalists from a year ago, including Mississippi State, TCU and Texas A&M. The Lady Tigers will battle a pair of NCAA finalists themselves in defending national champion Texas A&M and Oklahoma.
In addition, the 4×400-meter relay will feature five national finalists from the 2009 season in both genders as the Tigers battle Baylor, Southern California, Texas A&M and Texas Tech and the Lady Tigers square off against Baylor, Louisiana Tech, Southern California and Texas.
“This meet is especially important for both our 4×100 and 4×400 relays in both genders to compete in this kind of an environment and see where they are this early in the season,” Shaver said. “Both will be a great preview of what we will see at the NCAA Championships in June. I want to see exactly where we are and how we compete against the best teams in the country.
“It’s important that we take advantage of every opportunity to do just that. The Penn Relays are just a few weeks away, and before you know it, it’ll be time to get ready for the championship season.”
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 33 relay titles in meet history and have been especially dominant in the sprint relays with nine victories in the 4×100, six in the 4×200 and five in the 4×400-meter relays.
The men have enjoyed similar success as they have captured 26 relay championships all-time at the Texas Relays since claiming their first way back in 1935. Like their female counterparts, the Tigers have enjoyed great success in the sprint relays while claiming eight crowns in both the 4×100 and 4×200 relays and another five titles in the Cleburne Price, Jr. 4×400-Meter Relay.
The Tigers hold the distinction as the only men’s program to win the Clyde Littlefield 4×100-Meter Relay title five-straight times with consecutive victories from 2004-08.
After competing at the Texas Relays this weekend, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will spend Spring Break in sunny Miami, Fla., as they compete in the Miami Elite Invitational being held April 10 at Cobb Stadium before returning home April 17 to host this year’s LSU Alumni Gold at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium.