BATON ROUGE — A week after losing the No. 1 ranking in the Trackwire 25, the Lady Tiger track and field team has regained the nation’s top spot after outstanding performances at the 109th annual Penn Relays over the weekend. The Tigers, who held the nation’s No. 6 position last week, dropped into a two-way tie for 10th this week.
The Lady Tigers set a new collegiate record in the 4×200-meter relay for the second time in less then a month, en route to winning an astonishing four relay titles and two additional individual titles at the prestigious Penn Relays. The Lady Tigers’ dominating performance helped propel them back into the No. 1 position (66 points) after spending a week at No. 2 behind South Carolina. The Gamecocks dropped back to second this week with 59 points, while Texas (55), UCLA (47), and USC (33) hold down the remainder of the women’s top five.
In the men’s standings, the Tigers dropped into a two-way tie for 10th with Big 12 competitor, Texas, as each team stands with 25 points. The top of the men’s standings are flooded with SEC schools as Auburn sits on top with 54 points, Arkansas is in second (47), Mississippi State is third (46) and Tennessee is fifth (38).
Additionally, South Carolina and Georgia sit just inside the men’s top ten in seventh and eighth, respectively.
LSU has four relay teams and 14 individuals in 16 events ranked among the top 12 in the nation according to Trackwire. Three-time national champion, Muna Lee, leads the way for the Lady Tigers owning the countries No. 1 ranking in both the 100 and 200-meter races. She has won three of the four 100 meter races she has entered this season and the only open 200 meter race she has entered as well.
For the men, junior John Moffitt paces the Tigers with his No. 2 ranking in the long jump and his No. 7 ranking in the triple jump. The two-time All-American has recorded four top-three finishes in the long jump, in addition to one triple jump title this season.
The top ranked Lady Tigers and the 10th-ranked Tigers will put their rankings to the test Saturday, when they host their final home meet of the regular season, the Tiger Twilight Classic, at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium beginning at 1 p.m.