BATON ROUGE – Two of the premier programs in collegiate track and field will square off at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Texas, on Saturday when LSU and Texas A&M battle one another in their second-annual dual meet that is set to begin at 11 a.m. CT.
The introduction of coaches is scheduled for 10:50 a.m. followed by the playing of the national anthem at 10:55 a.m. and the running of the meet’s first events at 11 a.m.
Fans have the opportunity to watch the teams in action as Texas A&M will provide a live web stream this weekend, courtesy of its official athletics website at www.aggieathletics.com.
Live updates throughout the meet will also be available on the official Facebook and Twitter pages for the LSU Track & Field program. To receive these live updates, fans are invited to like LSU Track & Field on Facebook and follow @LSUTrackField on Twitter. Additional coverage for the LSU Track & Field teams on Twitter will be provided by @WillStaffordLSU by sports information director Will Stafford.
Fans are also invited to join in the Twitter conversation throughout the second LSU vs. Texas A&M Dual Meet by using the meet’s official hashtag at #TAMUvLSU.
Saturday’s dual meet is a clash of NCAA heavyweights as LSU and Texas A&M are among the top teams in the country again in 2012, according to the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association and its preseason power ranking released last week. The No. 2-ranked Lady Tigers are ready to square off with the No. 17-ranked Aggie women, while the No. 3-ranked Tigers battle the No. 12-ranked Aggie men in the second-annual dual meet held in College Station between the two programs.
Scoring for the meet will follow a 5-3-2-1 format for individual events and a 5-3 format for all relays. Just two athletes from each team will be allowed to score points in each individual event.
LSU Track & Field looks to avenge a sweep of team titles by Texas A&M in the inaugural dual meet held at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium a year ago as the Tigers dropped a narrow 84-75 decision and the Lady Tigers suffered a 91-67 setback to the Aggies during the 2011 indoor campaign.
“We’re excited for the opportunity to compete in a great dual meet competition that will be a lot of fun for both teams,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “Our sport really needs more scored meets like the one in which we’ll compete this weekend because it puts the focus on the team aspect of track and field.
“Texas A&M has a tremendous team again this season. These are two programs with a lot of pride in how we compete, so we expect a great competition between two of the best teams our sport has to offer.”
Among the head-to-head matchups that are sure to provide fireworks during Saturday’s action are NCAA championship and All-America contenders the men’s and women’s 60 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters and 60-meter hurdles, as well as the women’s pole vault to highlight the field events.
The Lady Tigers are certainly led by NCAA championship contender and 2011 Bowerman Award finalist Kimberlyn Duncan as she is set to make her 2012 indoor season debut in the 200-meter dash at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Duncan is the defending NCAA Indoor and NCAA Outdoor 200-meter champion as she opens her season in the event this weekend at the site of her gold-medal winning run at the NCAA Indoor Championships a year ago. Duncan, who owns an indoor personal record of 22.78 seconds in the 200 meters, clocked 22.85 in the 2011 national final as Texas A&M played host to the NCAA Indoor meet.
Duncan will be joined by Lady Tiger junior All-American Takeia Pinckney in both sprints as they take on the likes of Texas A&M standouts Dominique Duncan and Ashley Collier on Saturday.
Other matchups that are sure to grab headlines on the women’s side feature Lady Tiger seniors Cassandra Tate and Rebecca Alexander against Aggie sophomore Ibukun Mayungbe in the 400-meter dash, LSU All-American sophomore Jasmin Stowers against Texas A&M junior Donique Flemings in the 60 hurdles and LSU’s senior All-American Rachel Laurent against Aggie senior Laura Asimakis in the pole vault.
The Tigers feature the defending NCAA Outdoor champion and NCAA Indoor runner-up in the hurdles at the dual meet as senior Barrett Nugent highlights the action on the men’s side this weekend.
Nugent, who won the event at the LSU vs. Texas A&M Dual Meet a season ago, will battle fellow NCAA Indoor All-American and Texas A&M sophomore Wayne Davis II again this weekend.
Nugent took home his first career NCAA title as a junior a year ago with his victory for the 110 hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Championships held in Des Moines, Iowa, while also finishing as the national runner-up in the 60 hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championship held at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium.
The Tigers also feature the No. 3-ranked 400-meter runner in the NCAA heading into this weekend’s dual meet as junior Caleb Williams kicked off the indoor season with a win at the Crimson Tide Indoor Opener after running 47.38 in the final. He will square off against fellow Tiger senior All-American Riker Hylton and Aggie senior Joey Roberts for the 400-meter crown on Saturday afternoon.
The men’s 60-meter dash also features a trio of All-America hopefuls for the 2012 season as Tigers Keyth Talley and Rynell Parson compete alongside the likes of Texas A&M’s Prezel Hardy, Jr. in the event. Talley and Hardy will also battle one another for the 200-meter title during this year’s dual meet.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers will follow the second-annual LSU vs. Texas A&M Dual Meet with their trip to the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., where they will compete as part of the Razorback Invitational on the campus of the University of Arkansas.