BATON ROUGE – The LSU Track & Field teams are ready to kick off their run to the 2014 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships this weekend when they travel to Jacksonville, Florida, to compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds that is scheduled to begin Thursday afternoon at Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida.
The No. 6-ranked Lady Tigers and No. 9-ranked Tigers will compete with the goal of earning their spot in the national semifinals as the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds run through Saturday.
North Florida’s Hodges Stadium will serve as one of two host sites for the NCAA Preliminary Rounds this weekend as the NCAA West Preliminary Rounds is held at John McDonnell Field at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. The NCAA East Preliminary Rounds return to Hodges Stadium for the second time in three years as the meet was also held in Jacksonville in 2012.
The NCAA Selection Committee has accepted the Top 48 performers in each individual event and the Top 24 relay teams in both the 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relays to compete at each site serving as hosts of the NCAA Preliminary Rounds for a total of 96 individuals and 48 relays competing in all events nationwide with the goal of moving on to the national semifinals.
When competing at the NCAA Preliminary Rounds, the Top 12 finishers in each open and relay event will qualify for the semifinal and final rounds of the 2014 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships to be held at historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene from June 11-14.
LSU has qualified a total of 50 entries into the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds between the two teams, including 29 entries for the Lady Tigers to rank third nationally and 21 entries for the Tigers this weekend.
“We always approach this meet as the first in a seven-day NCAA Championship. Our athletes must be ready to compete from their first race, their first jump and their first throw starting tomorrow here in Jacksonville,” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “We’ll take it round-by-round and day-by-day, and have our athletes prepared and ready to compete for one of those 12 spots that will be going on to Eugene.”
Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers are among the nation’s top teams again this season as they enter the NCAA Championships as the women are ranked No. 6 for the second-straight week and men are ranked No. 9 here this week as they have dropped one spot in the latest Top 25 national power rankings released Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.
Flash Results will provide live results of the meet online at http://www.flashresults.com/ for each of the three days of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. Fans can also follow up-to-the-second and behind-the-scenes coverage of the Tigers and Lady Tigers in Jacksonville by liking LSU Track & Field on Facebook at http://facebook.com/lsutrackfield and following @LSUTrackField on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lsutrackfield.
Fans are also invited to join in the Twitter conversation this weekend by using the hashtag #NCAATF in their tweets throughout the three days of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds.
LSU Athletes Accepted into the 2014 NCAA East Preliminary Rounds
MEN
Athlete, Event, Time/Mark (Region Rank)
Shermund Allsop, 200 Meters, 20.74 (T15)
Rodney Brown, Discus, 210-10 (3)
Darrell Bush, 400 Meters, 46.40 (18)
Quincy Downing, 400 Hurdles, 51.07 (9)
Fitzroy Dunkley, Triple Jump, 51-6 ½ (T12)
Andreas Duplantis, Pole Vault, 17-0 ¾ (T20)
Aaron Ernest, 100 Meters, 10.17w (7)
Aaron Ernest, 200 Meters, 20.14 (2)
Cyril Grayson, 400 Meters, 46.45 (19)
Blair Henderson, 800 Meters, 1:49.18 (T25)
Jaora Johnson, Pole Vault, 17-0 ¾ (T20)
Joshua Lamers, 110 Hurdles, 13.85w (T13)
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, 100 Meters, 10.42 (T35)
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, 200 Meters, 21.00 (35)
Vernon Norwood, 400 Meters, 45.17 (1)
Jonathan Pitt, Triple Jump, 49-9 ¼ (T45)
Joshua Thompson, 110 Hurdles, 13.88w (T17)
Jeremy Tuttle, Hammer Throw, 216-8 (8)
Jeremy Tuttle, Javelin, 217-3 (31)
Mitchell-Blake, Ernest, Acy, Allsop; 4×100 Relay; 38.68 (2)
Downing, Bush, Grayson, Norwood; 4×400 Relay; 3:02.81 (2)
WOMEN
Athlete, Event, Time/Mark (Region Rank)
Andria Aguilar, 1,500 Meters, 4:24.86 (47)
Tori Bliss, Shot Put, 56-9 ¼ (3)
Tori Bliss, Discus, 168-6 (21)
Chanice Chase, 100 Hurdles, 13.37 (T19)
Chanice Chase, 400 Hurdles, 56.27 (4)
Mayme Cook, Javelin, 158-8 (20)
Kiersten Duncan, 200 Meters, 23.40w (20)
Keri Emanuel, Long Jump, 21-6 ¼ (1)
Keri Emanuel, Triple Jump, 42-6 ¾ (20)
Nataliyah Friar, Long Jump, 20-3 (32)
Mariah Georgetown, 100 Hurdles, 13.39 (22)
Rushell Harvey, 100 Meters, 11.56w (T30)
Rushell Harvey, 200 Meters, 23.67 (38)
Karen Henning, Hammer Throw, 194-3 (16)
Denise Hinton, Hammer Throw, 218-0 (3)
Jada Martin, 100 Meters, 11.35 (7)
Jada Martin, 200 Meters, 22.96w (3)
Lynnika Pitts, High Jump, 5-9 ¼ (T30)
Lynnika Pitts, Triple Jump, 43-4 ½ (3)
Bryiana Richardson, 400 Hurdles, 59.06 (34)
Morgan Schuetz, 800 Meters, 2:07.02 (T33)
Jasmin Stowers, 100 Hurdles, 12.81 (2)
Toshika Sylvester, 100 Meters, 11.59w (T35)
Toshika Sylvester, 200 Meters, 23.57 (T26)
Nikita Tracey, 400 Hurdles, 56.23 (3)
Rebekah Wales, Javelin, 166-11 (11)
Doren Welch, Javelin, 154-10 (30)
Stowers, Duncan, Martin, Harvey, 4×100 Relay; 43.72 (3)
Jones, Tracey, Duncan, Chase; 4×400 Relay; 3:35.59 (14)