BATON ROUGE – With their sights set on competing for another national championship, the LSU track and field teams will kick off the much anticipated 2011 indoor season on Saturday as they play host to the 2011 Purple Tiger Invitational at the Carl Maddox Field House.
The action at this year’s Purple Tiger Invitational will begin with the field events at 11 a.m. CST followed by the first events on the track beginning at 3 p.m.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers have just eight weeks to prepare for the 2011 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships that will be held March 11-12 at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.
Both teams are among the national title contenders during the 2011 indoor season as the Tigers will begin the season ranked No. 2 and the Lady Tigers will kick off the campaign ranked No. 3 in the preseason power ranking released by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
LSU took its place on the medal podium at the NCAA Indoor Championships last season as the women’s team earned a third-place finish and the men’s team earned a fourth-place finish in the team standings.
“Our athletes are always anxious at this time of year to get out there and compete for the first time against some other teams following a lengthy fall training program,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “They have done a tremendous job of preparing themselves for the regular season. It’s now important that we get ready each week to prepare for the NCAA Championships.”
Fans attending the meet will have the opportunity to watch seven of LSU’s returning All-America athletes compete in their specialty events in this year’s season opener.
A trio of NCAA runners-up from a year ago will lead the Tigers on Saturday afternoon as senior Josh Dominguez (pole vault), senior Zedric Thomas (long jump) and junior Barrett Nugent (60 hurdles) are set to compete. Each proved to be among the NCAA’s top performers in their events a season ago.
Nugent, who received All-America honors with a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships in 2010, emerged as an NCAA title contender during the outdoor season following a runner-up finish in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. He is now the school-record holder in both with bests of 7.60 in the 60 hurdles and 13.35 in the 110 hurdles.
Thomas, who earned a total of four All-America honors during a breakout junior season a year ago, ended the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships as LSU’s top point scorer on the men’s side following a second-place finish in the triple jump and a fourth-place finish in the long jump at the national meet.
Dominguez also returns for his final season of indoor eligibility after setting a lifetime personal best of 17 feet, 8 ½ inches in an NCAA runner-up finish in the pole vault during his senior season outdoors.
The Lady Tigers will feature four All-Americans of their own during Saturday’s Purple Tiger Invitational with senior Brittani Carter (high jump), senior Melissa Ogbourne (long jump), senior Kenyanna Wilson (60 meters) and junior Rachel Laurent (pole vault) scheduled to compete.
After setting a new lifetime personal record of 14-3 ½ in an All-SEC performance in the pole vault a year ago, Laurent picked up All-America honors with a third-place finish at the NCAA Indoor meet. Carter and Wilson also picked up indoor All-America honors a year ago with matching fifth-place finishes in the high jump and 60-meter dash, respectively. Ogbourne added a fifth-place finish in the outdoor triple jump to earn All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Saturday’s action will also mark the debut for members of LSU’s highly-touted 2010 recruiting class with juniors Kyron Blaise (long jump), Semoy Hackett (60 meters) and Keyth Talley (60 meters) and freshmen Jen Clayton (long jump) and Jasmin Stowers (60 hurdles) scheduled to compete.
“We never ask our athletes to do too much in our first meet of the season, but those who are competing on Saturday will have a great opportunity to get something done early in the season,” Shaver said. “This is just the first step for our team as we look to improve each week leading up to the NCAA meet.”
After hosting the Purple Tiger Invitational on Saturday, LSU will travel to College Station, Texas, a week from now as it battles the men and women of Texas A&M in a much anticipated dual meet on Jan. 22.
The Aggies are the two-time defending NCAA Outdoor champions on both the men’s and women’s sides, and are among the national title contenders indoors in 2011 as the Aggie women are ranked No. 2 and the Aggie men are ranked No. 3 in the USTFCCCA preseason power ranking.