BATON ROUGE – The LSU track and field teams are closing in on the nation’s No. 1 ranking following their performance this past weekend at the Tyson Invitational as both the Tigers and Lady Tigers rank No. 2 nationally in this week’s U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 25.
The Tigers have held the No. 2 spot in the men’s power ranking for three-straight weeks as they have now closed the gap on the top spot held by the defending NCAA Indoor champion Florida Gators. LSU is now within 4.37 points of catching Florida for the top spot after trailing by 7.56 points a week ago.
Indiana has overtaken Texas A&M for the No. 3 spot in this week’s rankings, while the Aggies follow the Hoosiers in the No. 4 position. Arkansas rounds out this week’s top five at No. 5 nationally.
After being the nation’s No. 3-ranked team for the previous four weeks, the Lady Tigers have climbed up as high as No. 2 for the first time this season as they trail only No. 1-ranked Oregon in this week’s power ranking. Texas has climbed five spots to No. 3 and Arkansas has climbed two spots to No. 4 this week, as Texas A&M has dropped three spots into the No. 5 position in the USTFCCCA Top 25.
LSU is riding high following a successful trip to the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., this past weekend where the teams strengthened their national title position at the Tyson Invitational.
After entering the meet with six top-five ranked performances in the NCAA this season, the Tigers added two more to the list with efforts from junior Barrett Nugent in the 60-meter hurdles and their 4×400-meter relay team as each nearly met the NCAA automatic qualifying standard.
The Tigers clocked the third-fastest time in the NCAA this season in the mile relay at 3:06.56 to finish an impressive six one-hundredths shy of the NCAA qualifying mark of 3:06.50. Nugent missed qualification by just three one-hundredths with the nation’s No. 5-ranked time of 7.73 seconds.
Senior NCAA champion Walter Henning leads a host of other Tigers with top-five performances with the No. 1-ranked mark in the men’s 35-pound weight throw of 72 feet, 7 inches. Other Tigers who currently rank among the nation’s top five in their respective events include senior Zedric Thomas (26-6 ¼) at No. 2 and sophomore Damar Forbes (26-3) at No. 4 in the long jump, junior Michael Lauro at No. 4 in the 35-pound weight throw (69-9 ½), junior Kyron Blaise at No. 5 in the triple jump (53-4 ½) and junior Horatio Williams in a tie for No. 5 in the 60-meter dash (6.61).
Sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan led the way for the Lady Tigers at the Tyson Invitational as she added her name to LSU’s NCAA Championships roster with an automatic qualifying performance in winning the 200-meter title. Her new lifetime personal best of 23.01 currently ranks No. 4 nationally for 2011.
The Lady Tigers also posted one of the nation’s leading times in the 4×400-meter relay in taking the event crown on Saturday as their 3:34.54 clocking also ranks No. 4 in the NCAA to this point of the season.
Five other Lady Tigers are also ranked in the top five of the NCAA performance list in their events to this point of the season, including junior Semoy Hackett in a tie for No. 2 in the 200-meter dash (22.98) and in a tie for No. 4 in the 60-meter dash (7.24), freshman Jasmin Stowers in a tie for No. 3 in the 60 hurdles at 8.13, senior Brittani Carter in a tie for No. 3 in the high jump (6-1 ¼), and senior Melissa Ogbourne in the No. 5 position in the triple jump (43-2 ½).
The Tigers and Lady Tigers return home Friday to host the LSU Twilight at the Carl Maddox Field House before heading back to the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., next weekend to compete for a conference title at the 2010 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships scheduled for Feb. 25-27.
USTFCCCA Top 25
Team (Points) Last Week
MEN
1. Florida (168.05) 1
2. LSU (163.68) 2
3. Indiana (95.37) 5
4. Texas A&M (87.95) 3
5. Arkansas (81.39) 12
6. BYU (79.37) 17
7. Stanford (77.73) 7
8. Texas (74.17) 13
9. Penn State (72.10) 8
10. Oklahoma (70.26) 15
11. Florida State (67.79) 9
12. Oregon (65.65) 6
13. Wisconsin (59.95) 27
14. Iowa (58.36) 29
15. Arizona (58.17) 18
16. Washington (57.76) 20
17. Nebraska (56.64) 14
18. Texas Tech (56.52) 4
19. Alabama (56.20) 34
20. Kansas State (56.08) 22
21. Ohio State (52.68) 16
22. Georgia (43.99) 21
23. Clemson (42.39) 36
24. Auburn (41.79) 11
25. Minnesota (41.64) 31
WOMEN
1. Oregon (199.68) 1
2. LSU (147.60) 3
3. Texas (118.61) 8
4. Arkansas (117.93) 6
5. Texas A&M (112.65) 2
6. Tennessee (98.57) 5
7. Florida State (95.87) 10
8. Central Florida (79.41) 17
9. Oklahoma (79.20) 15
10. BYU (71.50) 7
11. Nebraska (69.32) 14
12. Arizona (66.74) 13
13. Michigan (61.18) 40
14. Southern Illinois (55.33) 11
15. Clemson (50.21) 4
16. TCU (49.69) 22
17. Texas Tech (45.70) 18
18. Baylor (42.52) 30
19. Connecticut (40.58) 39
20. Arizona State (39.19) 24
21. Stanford (39.00) 33
22. Florida (38.79) 46
23. Auburn (35.21) 9
24. Duke (33.82) 36
25. Indiana (32.31) 20