SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A final workout Tuesday afternoon completed the LSU track and field teams preparation for the NCAA Outdoor Championships that begin Wednesday and run through Saturday evening at Sacramento State’s Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex.
The top-ranked Lady Tigers enter the meet looking to complete the 2003 national title sweep as they won the NCAA Indoor title earlier this year in Fayetteville. The Tigers, the defending outdoor national champions, enter the meet with the nation’s No. 9 ranking.
The Lady Tigers have won 12 NCAA Outdoor titles, with 11 of those championships coming in consecutive years between the 1987 and 1997 seasons. The Lady Tigers won their last outdoor crown in 2000 and have finished among the top six each of the past two years, including a fourth-place finish in 2002. The Tigers have won a total of four NCAA Outdoor titles with 2002 marking the programs first championship since the 1990 season.
“This is going to be an experimental year,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “With so many rounds being run at the championships this season we are going to have to see how everyone handles it. It definitely throws a different element into things. I think strength will be a pretty big factor in the outcome of the meet.
“I am happy with the group we have qualified to this meet. I am confident in their abilities and I believe we have a chance to be competitive this weekend.”
The Lady Tigers will look to its depth in the sprint and hurdle events in order to be competitive. The LSU women enter the meet with five athletes and two relay teams ranked among the top five in the country in their respective events.
Junior sprinter Muna Lee headlines the Lady Tiger squad as she currently owns the NCAA’s top time in the 100 meters, the third-best mark in the 200 meters and runs the anchor leg on LSU’s 4×100-meter relay team that owns a world leading mark in the event.
For the men, LSU will rely heavily on the 400 meter events as well as the horizontal jumps to score points in the team race. Sophomore Bennie Brazell enters the meet ranked fourth in the country in the 400-meter hurdles and will help the Tigers on both the 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams. In the jumps, junior John Moffitt comes to the championships with the third-best long jump mark this season, while fellow junior LeJuan Simon ranks fifth in triple jump.
Action from the Spanos Sports Complex begins tomorrow at 10 a.m. (PST) with the qualifying rounds of the women’s discus. Running events will follow at 10:25 a.m. with the preliminary rounds of the women’s 100-meter dash.