AUSTIN, Texas — Both the LSU Tiger and Lady Tiger track and field teams went through one final practice at the University of Texas’ Mike A. Myers Stadium Tuesday, putting the finishing touches on preparations for their journey towards a pair of team titles at this year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Competition begins Wednesday afternoon and will run through Saturday evening.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers, winners of the 2004 men’s and women’s indoor national crowns, aim to become the first school to ever sweep all four NCAA team titles in a single season.
LSU has come close once before, winning three of the four team titles in 1989. The only school in NCAA history to have ever earned such a distinction, LSU swept the outdoor national titles and won the women’s indoor crown that year.
Currently ranked No. 2 in the nation, the Lady Tigers enter the meet as the defending national champions. LSU tallied an impressive 64 points a year ago in Sacramento to claim their first outdoor national title since the 2000 season and their 13th in program history.
This year the Lady Tigers should be challenged by top-ranked UCLA as well as host and third-ranked Texas who each enter the meet with a solid contingent of athletes.
“We are looking forward to this competition,” said LSU head coach Pat Henry. “We always seem to be going head to head with Texas, but there are a number of other schools that will also be in the mix.”
“At this type of meet someone has to step up and take it to another level. That’s key, the team that does that is usually the one that wins.”
The Lady Tigers won’t be lacking for athletes with potential to step it up and take it to another level as they bring 13 individual competitors and two relay teams to this year’s championships.
Headlining the crew is sprint sensation Muna Lee. The 2004 Mideast Region Women’s Athlete of the Year, Lee has legitimate shots at national titles in both the 100 and 200 meters as she enters the meet ranked No. 2 and No. 3, respectively, in the events.
The Kansas City, Mo., native will also attempt to anchor the Lady Tigers to a second straight NCAA crown in the 4×100-meter relay. LSU, the top-ranked women’s short relay team in the country, has posted a NCAA-best time of 42.92 this season.
The Tigers, who enter the meet ranked No. 3 in the nation, will look primarily to their sprinters and jumpers in their quest for LSU’s first-ever men’s NCAA title sweep.
LSU will face fierce competition from defending national champion and top-ranked Arkansas. In addition, SEC foes Auburn and Florida as well as Pac-10 champion UCLA will provide the Tigers with a challenge.
“We come in with some people that have been here before and know what it takes to be successful at this type of competition,” said Henry. “If we can compete to the level that got us here, I think we can be competitive.”
The Tigers solid stable of jumpers, in All-Americans John Moffitt, LeJuan Simon and Willie Bradley, should provide LSU with a steady stream of points over the course of the week.
Moffitt, the reigning indoor national champion in the long jump, also finished second in the triple jump at the NCAA Indoor meet. He enters the meet ranked among the top six in both events this outdoor season.
Simon, this year’s NCAA Indoor champion in the triple jump and an All-American in the long jump, is listed at No. 3 in both events.
Willie earned indoor All-America honors with a third-place finish in the triple jump this year. He looks to repeat the feat outdoors.
On the track, junior Bennie Brazell and sophomore Kelly Willie will be headlining the Tigers’ sprint corp. Both ran on both the Tigers’ national champion 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams a year ago. Brazell anchored the short relay to gold, while Willie brought home the victory in the long relay. The two will once again be key contributors on the Tiger relay teams and should also be factors in the 400 meters and the 400 hurdles, respectively, this weekend.
Action from the NCAA Championships is scheduled to get underway Wednesday with the field events at 1 p.m. and the running events following at 5:20 p.m.