BATON ROUGE – With the start of the 2012 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships just eight days away, LSU’s athletes who have yet to qualify for the event have one last chance to do so at one of two last chance qualifying meets to be held this weekend.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers play host to the LSU NCAA Indoor Qualifier on Friday, while LSU will send a pair of athletes to the Iowa State NCAA Indoor Qualifier being held in Ames, Iowa, on Saturday.
Live updates of the Tigers and Lady Tigers competing in each meet this weekend will be posted on LSU’s official Facebook and Twitter pages for the LSU Track & Field program. To receive live updates, fans are invited to like LSU Track & Field on Facebook and follow @LSUTrackField on Twitter.
Six LSU athletes will compete at the Carl Maddox Field House on Friday looking to improve their NCAA ranking as they find themselves on the “bubble” for an at-large berth into the NCAA Championships with seasonal bests among the Top 20 of the national rankings but not yet guaranteed a spot in the NCAA field.
Senior Rachel Laurent is the Lady Tiger with the highest national ranking scheduled to compete on Friday as she enters the weekend in a tie for the No. 13 position in the pole vault with her seasonal-best clearance of 13 feet, 10 ½ inches set last weekend in a fourth-place finish at the SEC Indoor Championships.
Joining Laurent in the field events during Friday’s competition are Lady Tiger sophomores Denise Hinton and Lynnika Pitts. While she looks to solidify her spot in the NCAA field, Hinton is currently in position to qualify with the No. 14-ranked mark in the weight throw this season at 68-3 ¼. Pitts must raise her best this season in the triple jump as she ranks No. 20 nationally with a PR of 42-2 ¾.
Junior Takeia Pinckney is the only Lady Tiger looking to improve her NCAA position on the track, as she is currently tied as the No. 16-ranked sprinter in the 60-meter dash with a 2012 best of 7.34 seconds.
Two Tigers poised for NCAA qualifying performances Friday night are seniors Michael Lauro and Keyth Talley as Lauro is the NCAA’s No. 18-ranked performer in the weight throw with a best of 69-2 ½ for the season and Talley is the NCAA’s No. 19-ranked performer in the 60-meter dash with a top time of 6.67.
In addition, the Tigers will send two athletes to the Iowa State NCAA Indoor Qualifier on Saturday with a shot at improving their NCAA rankings in the event being held at the Lied Recreation Center.
Both senior Riker Hylton and freshman Aaron Ernest enjoyed seasonal-best performances last weekend at the SEC Championships, but must improve their times if they hope to join the Tigers in their individual events at the NCAA Championship. Hylton boasts the No. 22-ranked time for the 400-meter dash at 46.62 and Ernest owns the No. 24-ranked time in the 200-meter dash at 21.13 this season.
The track and the Lied Recreation Center is conducive to posting fast times as it features a 300-meter oval with 42-inch lanes, making it one of the largest and fastest indoor surfaces in the world.
The indoor season will come to an end next weekend as the 2012 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships are ready to run March 9-10 at the Jacksons Indoor Track in Nampa, Idaho, as Boise State University will play host to the finale of the 2012 indoor season.