BATON ROUGE – Each year, the nation’s premier programs descend on Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas, for one of the preeminent competitions on the track and field calendar, and the Tigers and Lady Tigers are among those making the trip this weekend to compete at the 88th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays beginning Thursday at the University of Texas.
While the meet kicks off Wednesday with the start of the multi-events, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will not compete for the first time at this year’s Texas Relays until Thursday with the field events scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. CT followed by the first events on the track at 4:30 p.m. Thursday’s events will run through 6 p.m.
Friday’s action is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. CDT in the field and 9:35 a.m. on the track, while Saturday’s finale is set for a noon CT start with the first finals on the track followed by the field events at 1:30 p.m.
Live results for the 88th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays can be found online at http://www.texassports.com/. Fans can also receive live updates of LSU’s athletes competing during the weekend by liking LSU Track & Field on Facebook at http://facebook.com/lsutrackfield and following @LSUTrackField on both Twitter at http://twitter.com/lsutrackfield and Instagram and http://instagram.com/lsutrackfield.
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 had a number of athletes who were able to compete for the first time outdoors in Lafayette (at the Louisiana Classics) last weekend, but for most of our team, the Texas Relays will be the true outdoor opener for this season,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “This will be a good opportunity for both our teams to see where they are right out of the gate up against many of the top teams in the country. We always expect that this meet will bring out the best in the teams here, even if it is so early in the season.”
LSU Track & Field is among the premier programs at the Texas Relays year in and year out as the Tigers and Lady Tigers have combined for 73 relay titles since the inaugural event in 1925. The Lady Tigers have won their total of 43 relay titles to lead all women’s programs in the meet’s history, while the Tigers have added 30 relay titles of their own to LSU’s trophy haul at the Texas Relays.
In addition, LSU’s athletes have won 74 individual event championships in the University division with the Tigers claiming 41 event titles and the Lady Tigers adding 33 event titles in the meet’s history.
LSU has certainly been recognized for its team performance over the years as the Lady Tigers have been honored as the Most Outstanding Team at the Texas Relays five times with their last selection coming just three seasons ago in 2012. They were also named the meet’s Most Outstanding Team for their performance in 1985, 1995, 1996 and 2003.
Lady Tiger great Kimberlyn Duncan was the last LSU athlete to be chosen the Most Outstanding Performer at the Texas Relays with her selection in 2012. Other Lady Tigers who have been recognized by the media and meet officials as their Most Outstanding Performer are Schowonda Williams (1987), Dawn Sowell (1989), Dawn Bowles (1992), Cheryl Taplin (1994) and Lolo Jones (2003).
After competing at the Texas Relays this weekend, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will return home next weekend to play host to this year’s “Battle on the Bayou” competition that will be held on Saturday, April 4, at Bernie Moore Track Stadium in Baton Rouge. They will then spend Spring Break in Tucson, Arizona, with an appearance at the Jim Click Shootout being held April 11 at the University of Arizona.