BATON ROUGE – The LSU track and field teams hold their positions among the top five teams in the national rankings as they prepare for the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds to be held this week as the Lady Tigers are No. 2 and the Tigers are No. 4 in the latest power ranking released on Tuesday afternoon by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
E.C. Billy Hayes Track in Bloomington, Ind., will serve as the east site of the preliminary and quarterfinal rounds of the 2011 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the opening three days of the meet will be held Thursday, Friday and Saturday of this week.
Athletes hope to finish among the top 12 of their respective events to earn a spot in the semifinal and final rounds of the NCAA Championships to be held June 8-11 at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
As is the case each season, LSU will be well-represented at the NCAA Championships with the women’s team earning 31 entries and the men’s team earning 29 entries into the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds at Indiana University. The Lady Tigers rank No. 3 in total entries among all programs competing at both the East and West sites, as they trail only Texas A&M (37) and Arizona (35). The Tigers are tied with Florida at No. 2 for men’s entries as they trail only Texas A&M (30) in NCAA representation.
Texas A&M holds the No. 1 position in both the men’s and women’s power ranking released on Tuesday. Rounding out the men’s top five is No. 2 Florida, No. 3 Florida State and No. 5 Texas Tech and rounding out the women’s top five this week is No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Clemson and No. 5 Arizona.
USTFCCCA Top 25
WOMEN
Team (Points) Last Week
1. Texas A&M (323.01) 1
2. LSU (319.55) 2
3. Oregon (290.62) 3
4. Clemson (226.78) 4
5. Arizona (193.25) 8
6. Oklahoma (189.16) 6
7. Southern California (187.51) 5
8. Arkansas (185.57) 7
9. Baylor (169.95) 9
10. Arizona State (155.84) 10
11. Texas (148.53) 11
12. Auburn (144.40) 12
13. Nebraska (139.94) 13
14. Washington State (124.28) 16
15. Tennessee (117.81) 14
16. Kansas (114.93) 18
17. Kansas State (109.94) 19
18. Texas Tech (109.16) 15
19. Florida (108.19) 23
20. Stanford (107.23) 22
21. Southern Illinois (104.51) 20
22. Georgia (102.63) 21
23. Central Florida (99.31) 24
24. Colorado (86.88) 17
25. Florida State (84.89) 26
MEN
1. Texas A&M (370.29) 2
2. Florida (367.29) 1
3. Florida State (257.95) 4
4. LSU (252.44) 3
5. Texas Tech (225.69) 5
6. Southern California (195.25) 6
7. Arkansas (185.94) 7
8. Texas (176.94) 8
9. Arizona (157.67) 11
10. Nebraska (147.59) 9
11. Stanford (144.31) 14
12. Baylor (142.09) 10
13. Virginia Tech (137.82) 12
14. Oregon (131.42) 13
15. Kansas (126.12) 15
16. BYU (119.94) 17
17. Oklahoma (109.15) 16
18. Ole Miss (108.90) 18
19. Washington (101.82) 20
20. Georgia (97.07) 19
21. Iowa (90.43) 21
22. UCLA (79.90) 22
23. Arizona State (75.00) 23
24. Washington State (74.05) 26
25. New Mexico (71.80) 25