BATON ROUGE – After claiming six SEC event titles during Sunday’s finale at the 2012 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships, the Tigers and Lady Tigers are ranked No. 4 this week in the latest NCAA power ranking released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
The Lady Tigers are coming off a runner-up finish in the final team standings at the conference meet after scoring 109 points in three days of competition at Kentucky’s Nutter Field House.
The Tigers scored a total of 68.5 points at the SEC Indoor Championships this past weekend to take home a fourth-place finish in the final men’s team standings to kick off the championship season.
The Lady Tigers certainly strengthened their NCAA Championships roster on Sunday afternoon, as junior Kimberlyn Duncan and sophomore Jasmin Stowers defended their SEC Indoor titles with performances that eclipsed the qualifying standard set for the national meet.
Duncan clocked the NCAA’s No. 2-ranked time in the final of the 200-meter dash at 23.07 seconds to win her second-straight SEC Indoor crown in the event and give herself the opportunity to defend her national championship from a season ago. Stowers set her personal record in the final of the 60-meter hurdles with the No. 4-ranked time nationally this season at 8.03 to successfully defend her SEC Indoor title.
Junior Shanekia Hall took home the SEC Indoor bronze medal in the 60 hurdles with a PR of 8.15 that put her in a tie for the No. 7 spot on the NCAA performance list this season. Hall shattered her previous 2012 seasonal best and personal best of 8.28 heading into the weekend.
Senior Rachel Laurent also put herself in position for an NCAA Championship berth with a seasonal-best clearance of 13 feet, 10 ½ inches that ranks in a tie for the No. 13 spot in the country this season.
The Tigers were strengthened by a trio of performances in the field events that ended the weekend ranked among the Top 20 on the national list with just one week before the NCAA field is announced.
Senior Kyron Blaise and junior Damar Forbes each recorded 2012 seasonal bests in the triple jump to take one step closer to NCAA qualification in the event. Blaise’s mark of 53-0 earned All-SEC honors with his second-place finish and moved him into the No. 5 spot on the NCAA list this season. Forbes jumped a PR of 52-10 ¼ that took third place in the event and moved him up to No. 7 in the national rankings.
In addition, senior Michael Lauro posted a seasonal-best mark in the weight throw at 69-2 ½ to capture an All-SEC second-place finish and end the meet ranked No. 18 nationally in the event.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers will have one final opportunity to prepare for the national meet as they are set to host the LSU NCAA Indoor Qualifier on Friday at the Carl Maddox Field House. Boise State University will play host to the 2012 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships as the event is set to run March 9-10 at the Jacksons Indoor Track in Nampa, Idaho.
USTFCCCA Top 25
MEN
Team (Points) Last Week
1. Florida (188.49) 2
2. Arkansas (135.65) 1
3. Texas A&M (123.78) 3
4. LSU (104.93) 4
5. Arizona (96.68) 6
6. Texas (92.10) 5
7. Arizona State (86.48) 7
8. BYU (76.03) 16
9. Minnesota (75.76) 8
10. Stanford (73.66) 12
11. Virginia Tech (68.71) 9
12. Mississippi State (66.90) 10
13. Indiana (62.14) 11
14. Georgia (59.32) 24
15. Kansas State (54.36) 14
16. Florida State (51.62) 20
17. Ohio State (44.95) 13
18. Nebraska (42.95) 15
19. Auburn (38.76) 17
20. Oregon (36.73) 19
21. Ole Miss (36.64) 22
22. NC State (35.00) 37
23. Princeton (34.31) 25
24. Oklahoma (33.50) 21
25. Northern Arizona (31.68) 23
WOMEN
Team (Points) Last Week
1. Oregon (192.15) 1
2. Arkansas (138.55) 4
3. Clemson (136.13) 3
4. LSU (127.57) 2
5. Texas A&M (110.21) 5
6. Kansas (87.43) 7
7. Florida (83.28) 6
8. California (76.82) 19
9. BYU (63.94) 14
10. Washington (63.82) 23
11. Stanford (57.20) 18
12. Southern Illinois (54.50) 9
13. Arizona (53.98) 16
14. Central Florida (53.29) 15
15. Iowa State (52.67) 13
16. Tennessee (51.63) 8
17. Ohio State (51.16) 10
18. Texas (50.61) 11
19. TCU (44.47) 41
20. Florida State (43.24) 21
21. Georgetown (40.40) 20
22. Georgia (40.11) 30
23. Texas Tech (40.11) 12
24. Wisconsin (39.86) 17
25. Auburn (39.01) 50