BATON ROUGE – With an NCAA-leading 29 combined entries on their side, the No. 2-ranked LSU track and field teams will join the national championship chase this weekend as they travel to College Station, Texas, to compete in the 2011 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships beginning Friday at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.
This year’s championship is set to begin Friday following a brief opening ceremony at 3:55 p.m. CT. The first day of competition will come to an end after the running of the distance medley relays at 8:40 p.m.
Saturday’s championship action kicks off at 3:30 p.m. with the field events followed by the first events on the track at 5 p.m. The 2011 NCAA Indoor men’s and women’s team champions will be honored during a brief awards ceremony at 7:50 p.m. following the running of the 4×400-meter relays.
Live results from the meet can be found online at www.flashresults.com, while fans can also follow up-to-the-minute and behind-the-scenes coverage of the Tigers and Lady Tigers competing at this year’s event by becoming a fan of LSU Track & Field on Facebook and following @LSUTrackField on Twitter.
Fans can also watch live streaming video of the Tigers and Lady Tigers in action this weekend by logging on to www.ESPN3.com. Live streaming video from this year’s NCAA Indoor Championships will be available online Friday from 3:55-8:40 p.m. and on Saturday from 5-7:50 p.m.
In addition, ESPN2 will air a 90-minute, tape-delay broadcast of the championships to a national audience on Wednesday, March 16, from 1:30-3 p.m. CT.
Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers will carry No. 2 national rankings into the NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend following the release of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association power ranking on Tuesday. The teams are poised to challenge for a national title after being ranked as one of the top-three teams in the country on both sides throughout the 2011 indoor season.
“Performing in the championship meets is what we as coaches and athletes prepare for all year long. It’s a part of our program here at LSU,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “We know that our athletes are prepared to reach their peak performance this weekend at the national meet and that we have a real chance to come here and compete at the highest level. We look forward to a great competition.”
No other program in the country will feature as many athletes at this year’s NCAA Indoor Championships as LSU as the Tigers and Lady Tigers have combined for a national-leading 29 entries into the meet. That includes a total of 26 athletes competing in 11 different events this weekend.
The Tigers rank No. 1 among men’s teams competing this weekend with 15 entries while the Lady Tigers are tied with Oregon for the top spot on the women’s side with 14 total entries into the meet.
The Tigers are arguably the most improved men’s team in the country this season as their 15 entries in the meet are six more than their nine entries from a year ago when they scored 42 points in two days of action for a fourth-place finish. Florida captured the men’s NCAA Indoor title a year ago with 57 points.
The Lady Tigers have also improved their position with 14 scoring opportunities this weekend. They were the third-place team a year ago with 11 entries scoring 35 points during the meet. Oregon scored a total of 61 points to take home the women’s national championship in 2010.
LSU has found a home on the awards podium throughout the history of the NCAA Indoor Championships as the teams have combined for 13 team titles all-time. The Lady Tigers have captured 11 national crowns and the Tigers have won a pair of team titles all-time at the NCAA Indoor meet. They have also combined to win 28 team trophies in the championship as signified by a top-four finish in the team standings.
LSU owns the distinction of being the first program to sweep men’s and women’s team titles at the indoor national meet with their performance in 2004. Arizona State matched that feat in 2008.
“We’ve certainly enjoyed our fair share of success at the national meet over the years,” Shaver said. “That is a testament to our student-athletes and how hard they’ve pushed themselves and worked in our program at LSU. They understand that these are the meets that will always be remembered.”
Set to make his final indoor appearance with the Tigers is senior star and defending NCAA Indoor weight throw champion Walter Henning, who enters the meet as the heavy favorite to retain his crown.
Henning, who captured his first career national championship at the NCAA Indoor meet a year ago with a throw of 77-3 ¾ and owns a lifetime best of 78-1 in the event, is the nation’s No. 1-ranked performer with the 35-pound weight throw again this season with a 2011 best of 76-6 ¼. He is coming off his third win at the SEC Indoor Championships in as many seasons with his title win two weeks ago.
The senior from Kings Park, N.Y., is a Bowerman Award candidate this spring after capturing 16-straight wins against collegiate competition between the weight throw indoors and hammer throw outdoors dating back to the start of the 2010 season. That includes 10-straight wins in the 35-pound weight throw.
Henning’s last defeat in the weight throw came at the NCAA Indoor meet as a sophomore in 2009, during which he earned All-America honors with a fourth-place finish nationally.
Two other Tigers who will enter the meet ranked among the nation’s top five in an event are senior Zedric Thomas and sophomore Damar Forbes with their performance this season in the long jump.
Thomas boasts a seasonal best and personal best of 26 feet, 6 ¼ inches to rank No. 3 in the field this week as he also owns a mark of 26-3 ¾ this season. Forbes follows as the No. 5-ranked long jumper in the field with seasonal bests and personal bests of 26-3 that he has set twice during the 2011 indoor season.
The Lady Tigers are looking to score big points in the 200-meter dash during this year’s championship, as juniors Rebecca Alexander and Semoy Hackett and sophomore Kimberlyn Duncan will line up during the 200-meter prelim on Friday with three of the top four performances in the NCAA this season. The final of the 200-meter dash is also scheduled to run during Friday’s competition.
Duncan (22.78) and Hackett (22.84) currently own the two fastest times in the world this spring following their performance in a first-place and second-place sweep in the 200-meter final at the SEC Indoor Championships. Alexander follows with the fourth-fastest time in the field this weekend at 22.96 seconds.
Hackett also ranks among the nation’s top-five performers in the 60-meter dash during the 2011 season as she has clocked a seasonal-best of 7.24 to tie for the No. 5 spot on the national list.
Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers also feature the nation’s fourth-fastest 4×400-meter relay team. The men own a seasonal-best time of 3:05.61 with a team of junior Keyth Talley, junior Riker Hylton, junior Robert Simmons and sophomore Caleb Williams. The women have run 3:33.21 this season with a team of Latoya McDermott, Cassandra Tate, Brittany Hall and Jonique Day.
LSU’S 2011 NCAA INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS QUALIFIERS
MEN
Athlete, Event, Top Mark/Time
Kyron Blaise, Long Jump, 25-6 ¼
Kyron Blaise, Triple Jump, 53-8 ¼
Damar Forbes, Long Jump, 26-3
Walter Henning, Weight Throw, 76-6 ¼
Riker Hylton, 400 Meters, 46.30
Michael Lauro, Weight Throw, 70-7
Marcus McGehee, Pole Vault, 17-7 ½
Gabriel Mvumvure, 200 Meters, 20.96
Barrett Nugent, 60 Hurdles, 7.73
Zedric Thomas, Long Jump, 26-6 ¼
Zedric Thomas, Triple Jump, 53-3 ½
Caleb Williams, 400 Meters, 46.08
Horatio Williams, 60 Meters, 6.61
Horatio Williams, 200 Meters, 20.83
Talley, Hylton, Simmons, C. Williams; 4×400 Relay; 3:05.61
WOMEN
Athlete, Event, Top Mark/Time
Rebecca Alexander, 200 Meters, 22.96
Brittani Carter, High Jump, 6-1 ¼
Kimberlyn Duncan, 60 Meters, 7.30
Kimberlyn Duncan, 200 Meters, 22.78
Semoy Hackett, 60 Meters, 7.24
Semoy Hackett, 200 Meters, 22.84
Brittany Hall, 800 Meters, 2:05.50
Tenaya Jones, 60 Hurdles, 8.16
Charlene Lipsey, 800 Meters, 2:04.55
Melissa Ogbourne, Triple Jump, 43-2 ½
Jasmin Stowers, 60 Hurdles, 8.12
Cassandra Tate, 400 Meters, 53.15
Kenyanna Wilson, 60 Meters, 7.26
McDermott, Tate, Hall, Day; 4×400 Relay; 3:33.21