BATON ROUGE — It’s early April and in track and field terms, that means it’s time for the Texas Relays.
LSU travels to Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas for the 73rd running of the Texas Relays this weekend. Several LSU athletes will get started on Thursday afternoon, but a majority of the team will compete on Friday and Saturday.
The Texas Relays is one of the premier competitions annually in track and field and is one of the few gatherings of all of the premier track and field programs in the nation before they meet at the NCAA Championships.
“It doesn’t get a whole lot bigger than the Texas Relays without being an NCAA Championship,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “It’s a tremendous atmosphere for track and field. It gives our athletes an opportunity to compete with the premier athletes in the nation and in front of 25-30,000 fans. It’s the kind of atmosphere that lends itself to great performances.”
LSU brings a trio of national leaders to Austin this weekend. Russ Buller, who took the national lead in the pole vault with a mark of 18 feet 4 + inches in Los Angeles last weekend, will try to become only the sixth man in the 73-year history of the Texas Relays to repeat in the event. He can also become the first man since 1985 to repeat. Buller, the NCAA indoor champion in the event, won the 1999 Texas Relays with a mark of 18-2 +.
Keisha Spencer and Monique Freeman each bring national leaders as well to the Texas Relays this weekend. Spencer owns the national lead in the triple jump with a mark of 45-5 + at the USC Invitational last weekend. Freeman, a native of Garland, Texas, owns the nation lead in the long jump with a mark of 21-3 +. Both finished third in their respective events at the Texas Relays last year.
Joyce Bates looks to continue her recent tear. After finishing second in the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the senior All-American has won back-to-back races to open her quest for the NCAA 100-meter title. Bates ranks third in the nation with a time of 13.08 seconds and finished second at the 1998 Texas Relays with a windy time of 12.85.
A year ago the Lady Tigers broke the Texas Relays record in the sprint medley relay, as the group of Peta-Gaye Dowdie, Myra Combs, Celena Clarke and Claudine Williams ran a time of 3:44.18. With only Clarke gone from that group, the Lady Tigers will look to defend that title.
One of the marquis events of the competition will be the women’s 4×100-meter relay, an event that is usually a showdown between rivals LSU and Texas. A year ago Texas shattered the meet record with a winning time of 42.90, while the Lady Tigers finished second in a season-best time of 43.30. LSU last won the event in 1996.
The Tigers finished fourth in the men’s 4×100-meter relay a year ago and figure to be in the mix once again with a number of the Texas schools serving as favorites.
Following the Texas Relays, LSU returns home next Saturday for its final regular season home meet, the Alumni Gold Relays at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.