BATON ROUGE – With the regular season now in the rearview mirror, the LSU track and field teams will kick off the championship season this weekend as they travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to compete in the 2010 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships being held at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium.
While the meet is set to begin Thursday with the women’s heptathlon and men’s decathlon, LSU will not compete for the first time until Friday with the first open events on the track and in the field.
The four-day meet is sure to come to an exciting end on Sunday night with this year’s SEC Outdoor team champions being crowned in an awards ceremony at approximately 8 p.m. CT.
Live results from the 2010 SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be provided by Flash Results and can be found online at www.flashresults.com. Fans can also follow up-to-the-minute and behind-the-scenes coverage of the Tigers and Lady Tigers during the meet by following @LSUTrackField on Twitter and by becoming a fan of the official LSU Track & Field group on Facebook.
The meet will also be broadcast to a nationwide audience on ESPNU as part of the network’s coverage of the SEC. A tape-delay broadcast of the meet will air on Tuesday, May 25, beginning at 8 p.m. CT.
The No. 2-ranked Lady Tigers have enjoyed tremendous success at the SEC Outdoor Championships over the past few years as they have their sights set on winning their third team title in the last four years. After winning back-to-back SEC Outdoor crowns in 2007 and 2008, the Lady Tigers finished in second place in 2009 after scoring 113 points to finish runner-up to defending champion Florida (135.5).
With a win this weekend, LSU would become the first women’s program to win three team titles at the SEC Outdoor Championships in a four-year span since the Lady Tigers accomplished the feat themselves in 1993. In fact, the LSU women won six SEC Outdoor titles in seven seasons from 1987-93.
Four women’s programs enter the weekend with a national ranking on their side in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 25 power ranking released Tuesday.
The second-ranked Lady Tigers are sure to battle the likes of No. 10 Florida, No. 11 Arkansas and No. 15 Auburn for the right to be crowned this year’s SEC Outdoor champion.
After following back-to-back runner-up finishes in 2007 and 2008 with a third-place finish a year ago, the No. 5-ranked Tigers look to end a 20-year drought with their first SEC Outdoor crown since the 1990 campaign. LSU scored a total of 98.5 points to pick up a third-place finish in the team race in 2009. It was Arkansas taking the title with 141 points and Florida finishing runner-up with 129 points.
The men’s race is as wide open as it has ever been with eight of the 11 programs in the SEC entering with a Top 25 ranking. In order to win this year’s conference championship, the fifth-ranked Tigers must battle nationally-ranked squads in No. 3 Florida, No. 9 Auburn, No. 11 South Carolina, No. 13 Ole Miss, No. 15 Mississippi State, No. 24 Georgia and No. 25 Arkansas.
“I don’t think there’s any question that the SEC hosts the most competitive conference championship year in and year out. We expect nothing less this weekend,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “This will be our first meet since the Penn Relays, so I know our athletes are excited about the opportunity to compete.
“We must be prepared to compete from start to finish this weekend if we hope to be in the race for a team championship on Sunday. There’s no doubt we’re in for a dogfight on both sides.”
LSU has enjoyed tremendous success at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships over the years as the Tigers have captured 22 outdoor conference titles in their history, while the Lady Tigers have taken 10 team titles all-time to rank No. 1 among women’s programs in the SEC.
LSU athletes are also among the league leaders each season as the Tigers have won more event titles than any other team in the history of the SEC Outdoor Championships. The Tigers have won 232 individual titles and 34 relay titles for a total of 266 event wins in the history of the meet. The Tennessee Volunteers are a distant second with 216 event titles all-time at the SEC Outdoor meet.
Junior standout and NCAA Indoor champion Walter Henning is a heavy favorite to defend the conference crown he won in the hammer throw as a sophomore a season ago.
Henning currently ranks No. 1 in the SEC and No. 2 in the NCAA this spring with a top mark of 239 feet, 5 inches. He looks to remain unbeaten in 2010 as he has emerged victorious in all 10 competitions during which he has entered in the weight throw indoors and hammer throw outdoors this season.
Two other Tigers are also looking to add an SEC Outdoor title to their resume after being crowned indoor conference champions earlier this season. Senior Richard Jones enters the meet with the league’s top time in the 800-meter run with a personal record of 1 minute, 46.90 seconds. Sophomore Barrett Nugent boasts the SEC’s second-fastest time in the 110-meter hurdles with a wind-legal PR of 13.58 seconds.
In addition, senior Josh Dominguez is a title threat in the men’s pole vault as he currently ranks in a tie for the No. 1 spot in the event with a top clearance this season of 17 feet, 8 ½ inches.
The Lady Tigers have established the most successful women’s program in meet history as they have won a league-leading 115 event titles all-time, including 92 individual titles and 23 relay titles.
Senior sprinter Samantha Henry is sure to lead the way for the Lady Tigers this weekend as the defending SEC Outdoor champion in the 200-meter dash returns for her final appearance at the conference meet as the SEC leader in both the 100 meters with a time of 11.18 and 200 meters with a time of 22.94. Not only that, but Henry has teamed with Kimberlyn Duncan, Takeia Pinckney and Kenyanna Wilson for the No. 1 ranked 4×100-meter relay in the SEC this season with a top time of 43.25.
Fellow Lady Tiger senior LaTavia Thomas will also make her final appearance at the SEC Championship this weekend as she enters the meet with the league’s No. 1-ranked performance in the 800 meters with an NCAA-leading time of 2:01.40 to her credit. She was the SEC Outdoor champion in 2007 and 2008.
After being crowned the SEC Indoor champion earlier this season, junior Brittani Carter is poised to add a SEC Outdoor crown to her resume as she boasts the league’s top mark in the high jump at 6-0 ½.
After competing at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships this week, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will open up the NCAA Championships in two weeks with a trip to Irwin Belk Track at North Carolina A&T University in Greensboro to compete in the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds scheduled for May 27-29.