Much will be written heading into the 2015 season about which Lady Tigers will step up to fill the void left behind by the departures of such All-Americans as Denise Hinton, Lynnika Pitts, Jasmin Stowers and Nikita Tracey from last year’s squad. After all, they formed a senior class that accounted for 16 All-America selections during their respective careers in Baton Rouge that was capped with a sixth-place team finish during the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships to end the 2014 season.
But the Lady Tigers return the likes of NCAA Outdoor shot put silver medalist Tori Bliss and All-American hurdler Chanice Chase, as well as national hopefuls Nataliyah Friar, Jada Martin, Rebekah Wales and one of the nation’s top recruiting classes to reload for another NCAA run in 2015.
Eighth in a 10-part series previews the Lady Tigers’ middle distance and distance squad during the 2015 season.
Women’s Middle Distance & Distance
The Lady Tigers have produced some of the nation’s leading performers in the middle distance events in recent years, and Morgan Schuetz looks to be the next in line as she returns to the program for her sophomore season in the wake of an outstanding redshirt freshman campaign in 2014.
A local product from Parkview Baptist High School in Baton Rouge, Schuetz redshirted in her first season with the Lady Tigers after signing her National Letter of Intent as a part of LSU’s recruiting Class of 2012. It was a decision that proved beneficial for the emerging middle distance standout as she raised her performance to that of an SEC scorer and NCAA qualifier in her debut season a year ago.
After ending the 2014 indoor season with an indoor personal best of 2 minutes, 8.86 seconds in the 800 meters, Schuetz was nearly two seconds faster outdoors as she ran a lifetime best of 2:07.02 for a sixth-place finish in her first SEC final at the SEC Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Lexington, Kentucky. That performance earned her a trip to the NCAA Championships for the first time as she raced in the first round of the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds to cap her 2014 campaign.
Under the guidance of two-time U.S. Olympian and second-year LSU assistant coach Khadevis Robinson, Schuetz has an eye on the SEC and NCAA Championships yet again as she has already cut over 12 seconds off of her 800-meter PR from the day she arrived on campus.
The Lady Tigers return two NCAA Championships qualifiers to their middle distance squad in the 2015 season as Schuetz is once again joined by junior Andria Aguilar in leading the group this spring.
A native of Metairie, Louisiana, Aguilar qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time in her career in 2014 when she lined up in the 1,500 meters at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds to end a sophomore season in which she clocked a personal best of 4:24.86 in the event. A former SEC scorer in the distance medley relay indoors, she also owns a lifetime best of 2:09.33 in the 800 meters.
Sophomore Chaiss Matthews also proved to be one of the team’s top performers in the distance events in her debut season with the Lady Tigers a year ago as she raced to new personal bests of 4:42.81 in the 1,500 meters, 4:57.44 in the mile and 18:26.08 in the 5,000 meters in 2014.
Among LSU’s heralded class of recruits who will look to make their mark as freshmen in 2015 are former Louisiana state champions Carley Boyce of Covington’s St. Scholastica Academy and Keterra Harris of Marrero’s St. Mary’s Academy. Boyce joins the LSU program as the Class 4A state cross country champion from a year ago. Harris captured five Class 2A state titles during her prep career, including the 400-meter and 800-meter state titles in her senior season a year ago.