BATON ROUGE – After kicking off their 2016 indoor season with the Purple Tiger Invitational a week ago, the LSU Track & Field teams return to action Saturday when they play host to the Bayou Bengal Invitational as many Tigers and Lady Tigers will make their season debut for the first time in the event being held at the Carl Maddox Field House.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers are set to compete against three other in-state programs during the meet as Northwestern state, Southeastern Louisiana and Southern will make the trip to Baton Rouge.
This year’s Bayou Bengal Invitational is set to begin at 9 a.m. CT as the men’s weight throw kicks off the morning session in the field events, while the afternoon session gets underway at Noon CT with the first races on the track in the preliminary rounds. The competition continues through the running of the distance medley relays beginning at 3:15 p.m. CT.
Delta Timing will provide live results from the meet as fans can follow the action at http://results.deltatiming.com/lsu. Fans can also receive live updates of the Tigers and Lady Tigers competing at the meet on Saturday by following @LSUTrackField on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/lsutrackfield and by liking LSU Track & Field on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/lsutrackfield.
“We had a nice start to the season last week, but we’ll really step it up this week with so many of our athletes opening up for the first time,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “It’s a great opportunity for them to get out there and compete for the first time, and hopefully put them on a track that will ultimately get them to the NCAA Championships. We’re looking forward to a great meet.”
Senior Patrick Geers, juniors Nataliyah Friar and Johnnie Jackson and freshman Amy Stelly were among the top performing athletes in LSU’s season opener at the Purple Tiger Invitational on Jan. 8 as each recorded PRs a week ago. Each will be in action once again as Geers and Jackson open the competition in the men’s weight throw, while Friar will run the 60 meters and Stelly competes in the pole vault later in the day.
Jackson’s performance was most impressive as he kicked off his LSU career by throwing a personal best of 67 feet, 2 ¾ inches to move into the No. 5 spot on LSU’s all-time indoor performance list in his event.
Six past All-Americans and two other NCAA Championship semifinalists from the 2015 season also headline the meet as they make their indoor debut on Saturday. Among LSU’s All-American athletes on the heat sheet are senior Chanice Chase and sophomore Mikiah Brisco in the 60-meter hurdles; and juniors Tremayne Acy, Rushell Harvey, Jada Martin and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake all in the 60-meter dash.
Brisco is the lone Lady Tiger competing Saturday after scoring in an NCAA final at the NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships a year ago when she placed fifth nationally in the 60-meter dash in her first ever NCAA meet. Acy and Martin both earned All-America honors in the 200 meters and 4×100-meter relay during the 2015 outdoor season, while Harvey joined Martin in the sprint relay and Chase scored for the team with her performance in the final of the 100-meter hurdles last spring.
In addition, NCAA Outdoor semifinalist Jordan Moore opens his junior season in the 60-meter hurdles, while junior Morgan Schuetz is also set to line up for the first time in 2016 in the 3,000 meters following a breakout sophomore season in which she was an NCAA semifinalist in the 800 meters during both the indoor and outdoor season.
Members of LSU’s heralded 2015 recruiting class who are scheduled to debut in their individual events on Saturday include junior transfers Christian Brennan (200 meters) and Tinashe Mutanga (60 meters) and rookies Dajour Braxton (3,000 meters), Kortnei Johnson (60 meters), Erika Lewis (800 meters), Hollie Parker (mile) and Rachel Misher (60 meters).
After playing host to the Bayou Bengal Invitational on Saturday afternoon, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will go on the road for the first time in 2016 next weekend when they travel to Birmingham, Alabama, to compete at the two-day Conference Clash Power Five Invitational running Jan. 22-23 and being hosted jointly by Auburn and Tennessee at the Birmingham Crossplex.