BATON ROUGE – The LSU Track & Field teams are ready to kick off their run to the 2015 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships this weekend when return to Jacksonville, Florida, for the second-straight season to compete at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds set to begin Thursday afternoon at Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida.
The No. 3-ranked Tigers and No. 8-ranked Lady Tigers will compete with their 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 will return to Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas in Austin. The NCAA East Preliminary Rounds return to Hodges Stadium for the third time in four years as the meet was also held in Jacksonville in both 2012 and 2014.
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 2015 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 10-13.
LSU has qualified a total of 43 entries into the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds between the two teams, including 20 entries for the Tigers and 23 entries for the Lady Tigers to rank among the NCAA postseason leaders.
“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 prepare for the start of the NCAA Championships. The Tigers are back up one spot to No. 3 this week after climbing as high as No. 2 nationally in the three previous weeks, while the Lady Tigers are tabbed the No. 8 nationally for the fifth week in a row heading into the weekend.
Flash Results will provide the daily live results of the meet online at http://www.flashresults.com in each of the three days of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. Fans can also receive live updates of the Tigers and Lady Tigers competing in Jacksonville this weekend by following @LSUTrackField on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lsutrackfield and Instagram at http://instagram.com/lsutrackfield and by liking the LSU Track & Field page on Facebook at http://facebook.com/lsutrackfield.
Fans are also invited to join in the Twitter conversation this weekend and throughout this year’s NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships by using the hashtag #NCAATF in their tweets in the three days of competition at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds and during the four days of semifinals and finals at Oregon’s Hayward Field in two weeks.
LSU Athletes Accepted into the 2015 NCAA East Preliminary Rounds
MEN
Athlete, Event, Time/Mark (Region Rank)
Tremayne Acy, 100 Meters, 10.12w (T5)
Tremayne Acy, 200 Meters, 20.51w (7)
Rodney Brown, Discus, 213-5 (1)
Darrell Bush, 400 Meters, 45.49 (4)
David Collins, Hammer Throw, 206-5 (30)
Quincy Downing, 400 Hurdles, 49.63 (6)
Fitzroy Dunkley, 400 Meters, 45.78 (6)
Andreas Duplantis, Pole Vault, 17-3 (19)
Aaron Ernest, 100 Meters, 10.09w (3)
Aaron Ernest, 200 Meters, 20.53 (8)
Cyril Grayson, 400 Meters, 46.23 (T14)
Blair Henderson, 800 Meters, 1:47.03 (T9)
Jordan Moore, 110 Hurdles, 13.47 (2)
Vernon Norwood, 400 Meters, 44.44 (1)
Julian Parker, 800 Meters, 1:46.17 (5)
Jonathan Pitt, Triple Jump, 50-10w (30)
Joshua Thompson, 110 Hurdles, 13.54w (3)
Jeremy Tuttle, Hammer Throw, 211-3 (20)
Thompson, Norwood, Acy, Ernest; 4×100 Relay; 38.78 (1)
Downing, Grayson, Dunkley, Norwood; 4×400 Relay; 3:01.63 (2)
WOMEN
Athlete, Event, Time/Mark (Region Rank)
Tori Bliss, Shot Put, 60-8 (1)
Tori Bliss, Discus, 178-4 (10)
Mikiah Brisco, 100 Meters, 11.31 (T7)
Chanice Chase, 100 Hurdles, 13.05 (6)
Chanice Chase, 400 Hurdles, 57.01 (7)
Mayme Cook, Javelin, 165-8 (8)
Nataliyah Friar, Long Jump, 21-10 ¾w (2)
Nataliyah Friar, Triple Jump, 43-10 (6)
Daeshon Gordon, 100 Hurdles, 13.09w (9)
Daeshon Gordon, 400 Hurdles, 58.03 (18)
Shanice Hall, High Jump, 5-8 ¾ (T36)
Rushell Harvey, 100 Meters, 11.44w (T18)
Aleia Hobbs, 100 Meters, 11.26 (T4)
Ka’Lynn Jupiter, 400 Hurdles, 58.55 (28)
Jada Martin, 200 Meters, 23.00 (6)
Kymber Payne, 400 Hurdles, 58.46 (T25)
Bryiana Richardson, 400 Hurdles, 59.14 (38)
Morgan Schuetz, 800 Meters, 2:03.12 (3)
Annie Simoneaux, Javelin, 163-9 (10)
Rebekah Wales, Javelin, 177-1 (3)
Doren Welch, Javelin, 152-9 (34)
Harvey, Hobbs, Martin, Brisco; 4×100 Relay; 42.80 (2)
Gordon, Martin, Jones, Chase; 4×400 Relay; 3:32.97 (7)