BATON ROUGE – The LSU Track & Field program has been a featured attraction of the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays throughout the meet’s storied history, and the Tigers and Lady Tigers are looking to add to their impressive haul of 69 individual titles and 65 relay titles all-time in the 85th edition running this week at historic Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
Lady Tiger freshman Alex Gochenour will kick it off for the LSU Track & Field teams Wednesday as she makes her collegiate debut in the women’s heptathlon that is set to begin at 11:30 a.m. CDT.
The teams will compete in their first open field events on Thursday at 12:30 p.m., followed by the start of the relay events at 5:50 p.m. Friday’s action is set to begin at 9:30 a.m., while Saturday’s finale will begin at noon with the field events and 12:30 p.m. with the first relay finals of the afternoon.
Live results for the 85th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays can be found online at the official athletics website for the University of Texas at www.texassports.com. Fans can also receive live updates of both the Tigers and Lady Tigers competing throughout the meet by liking LSU Track & Field on Facebook and following @LSUTrackField on Twitter while joining the largest social media following in collegiate track and field.
As one of the premier attractions of the outdoor season, the Texas Relays provides an early-season look at many of the programs that are sure to be in the title hunt at the NCAA Championships in June.
We look forward to coming back and competing in the Texas Relays each season,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “Not only is it special to come back here and enjoy the rich history and tradition that is the Texas Relays, but it also gives us our first chance to compete against many of the teams we will see at the NCAA Championships. We want to see where we are at this stage against the best teams.”
With their performance, the Tigers and Lady Tigers have helped to establish the tradition that is the Texas Relays, spanning nearly nine decades as one of the country’s leading events of the outdoor season.
Senior Barrett Nugent propelled himself to a national championship in the 110-meter hurdles following an exciting victory at the Texas Relays a season ago after posting one of the fastest sprint hurdle times under all conditions in the history of collegiate track and field.
Nugent raced to the finish line with a career-best wind-aided time of 13.19 seconds to claim the event title over the likes of fellow NCAA All-Americans Omo Osaghae of Texas Tech (13.22w) and Oscar Spurlock of Southern California (13.39w). He became the first LSU Tiger in 36 years to win the 110 hurdles title at the Texas Relays since former NCAA champion Larry Shipp won the event in 1975.
Nugent looks to defend his title this weekend after his winning run of 13.19w a season ago tied him as the No. 2-ranked performer in the 110 hurdles under all conditions in collegiate history.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers also look to defend their Texas Relays titles in the 4×200-meter relay after an impressive sweep of men’s and women’s titles in the event in 2011.
The Tigers enjoyed a record-setting performance in claiming their ninth 4×200-meter relay championship all-time at the Texas Relays as the team of Keyth Talley, Horatio Williams, Tristan Walker and Gabriel Mvumvure shattered LSU’s 16-year-old school record with a winning time of 1 minute, 20.45 seconds for a new Texas Relays meet record. The Tigers also won the 4×200 relay at the Penn Relays a year ago.
The Lady Tigers won the women’s 4×200-meter relay crown a season ago by more than one second as the team of Rebecca Alexander, Semoy Hackett, Cassandra Tate and Kimberlyn Duncan combined for the fourth-fastest time in school history at 1:30.88 to claim their seventh Texas Relays title in the event.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers are certainly contenders once again in the sprint relays at the Texas Relays on Friday and Saturday as they rank among the NCAA leaders entering the competition.
In sweeping sprint relay titles at the LSU Relays on Saturday, the Lady Tigers clocked 2012 seasonal-best times of 43.86 in the 4×100 relay, 1:32.64 in the 4×200 relay and 3:36.21 in the 4×400 relay in opening up the outdoor season in each event. The Tigers emerged with seasonal bests of 39.62 in the 4×100 relay and 3:07.20 in the 4×400 relay while running with their “A” team for the first time in 2012.
“This meet is especially important for both our 4×100 and 4×400 relays in both genders to compete in this kind of an environment and see where they are this early in the season,” Shaver said. “Both will be a great preview of what we expect to see at the NCAA Championships later in June.
“It’s important that we take advantage of every opportunity to do just that. The Penn Relays are just a few weeks away, and before you know it, it’ll be time to get ready for the championship season.”
LSU has experienced great success at the Texas Relays since the inaugural event in 1925 with the Lady Tigers being named the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays Most Outstanding Team four times, while having five athletes named the meet’s Most Outstanding Performer. Lolo Jones is the last to receive that honor at the 76th running of the meet during the 2003 season.
Schowanda Williams was the first Lady Tiger to be named the MOP in 1987, while Dawn Sowell (1989), Dawn Bowles (1992) and Cheryl Taplin (1994) have also received the honor.
In addition, the Lady Tigers have won 36 relay titles in meet history and have been especially dominant in the sprint relays with nine victories in the 4×100, seven in the 4×200 and five in the 4×400-meter relays.
The men have enjoyed similar success as they have captured 29 relay championships all-time at the Texas Relays since claiming their first way back in 1935. Like their female counterparts, the Tigers have enjoyed great success in the sprint relays while claiming eight crowns in the 4×100, nine in the 4×200 and another five titles in the Cleburne Price, Jr. 4×400-Meter Relay all-time.
The Tigers hold the distinction as the only men’s program to win the Clyde Littlefield 4×100-Meter Relay title five-straight times with consecutive victories from 2004-08.
After competing at the Texas Relays this weekend, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will return to Baton Rouge on Saturday, April 7, as they play host to the Battle on the Bayou at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium. It’s a meet that will also boast such clubs as Connecticut, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi State, Missouri, Penn State and Texas Tech in a high-level scored competition on the LSU campus.