BATON ROUGE – Following a successful Spring Break trip to Miami for their outdoor opener at the Hurricane Twilight, the LSU Track & Field teams will look to hit the ground running at the 89th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays as they join many of the nation’s premier programs beginning Thursday at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas.
While the meet kicks off Wednesday with the start of the multi-events, LSU’s athletes will not compete for the first time at this year’s Texas Relays until Thursday with the field events beginning at 11 a.m. CT followed by four Lady Tigers in the preliminary rounds of the women’s 400-meter hurdles at 4:30 p.m.
Friday’s action is set to begin at 9:35 a.m. CT with 4×100-meter relay qualifying followed by the field events at 10 a.m., while Saturday’s finale gets underway at 11 a.m. in the field and 12:05 p.m. on the track.
This year’s Texas Relays features live television coverage as fans can watch the Tigers and Lady Tigers in action on the Longhorn Network, which will also provide live online streaming of the meet on ESPN3.com starting at 4:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, 9:30 a.m. in the morning session and 7 p.m. in the evening session on Friday and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday for the final day of the competition.
Live results will be provided by Prime Time Timing and can be found online at http://www.primetimetiming.com. Fans can also receive live updates on LSU’s athletes throughout the weekend by liking LSU Track & Field on Facebook at http://facebook.com/lsutrackfield and following @LSUTrackField on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lsutrackfield and Instagram and http://instagram.com/lsutrackfield.
As one of the premier attractions of the outdoor season, the Texas Relays provides an early-season look at many of the programs that are sure to be in the title hunt at the NCAA Championships in June.
“Typically, we would have already had a couple of meets under our belts in the past when we go to Texas, but I liked what I saw from both our teams our first time going outdoors in Miami last weekend” said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. “This weekend will really be the true outdoor opener for many of our athletes in a lot of events. It’s always a great opportunity for our teams to see where they are early in the season. We’ll see a great competition that always brings in many the best teams in the country.”
LSU Track & Field is among the premier programs at the Texas Relays year in and year out as the Tigers and Lady Tigers have combined for 74 relay titles since the inaugural event in 1925. The Lady Tigers have won their total of 43 relay titles to lead all women’s programs in the meet’s history, while the Tigers have added 31 relay titles of their own to LSU’s trophy haul at the Texas Relays.
In addition, LSU’s athletes have won 75 individual event championships in the University division with the Tigers claiming 42 event titles and the Lady Tigers adding 33 event titles in the meet’s history.
The Tigers added to their Texas Relays trophy cabinet in the 88th running of the event a year ago when they captured the men’s 4×200-meter relay title on the meet’s final day after former All-American Rodney Brown captured the men’s discus crown to highlight his senior season. Brown, who finished runner-up in the event two seasons before, threw 209 feet, 8 inches to become LSU’s first discus champion since 1992.
The Tigers’ victory in the 4×200-meter relay a year ago marked their 10th Texas Relays title all-time in the event and the 149th combined event win in the University divisions for the Tigers and Lady Tigers in the history of the meet. Fitzroy Dunkley is the lone Tiger returning from LSU’s winning team last season as he is likely to be joined by juniors Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Tinashe Mutanga and freshman Jaron Flournoy.
LSU will be a featured attraction in the sprint relays during this year’s meet as the Tigers and Lady Tigers will both appear in the 4×100-meter relay, 4×200-meter relay, 4×400-meter relay and sprint medley relay.
LSU has certainly been recognized for its team performance over the years as the Lady Tigers have been honored as the Most Outstanding Team at the Texas Relays five times in history with their last selection coming four years ago in 2012. They were also named the meet’s Most Outstanding Team for their performance in 1985, 1995, 1996 and 2003.
Lady Tiger great Kimberlyn Duncan was the last LSU athlete to be chosen the Most Outstanding Performer at the Texas Relays with her selection in 2012. Other Lady Tigers who have been recognized by the media and meet officials as their Most Outstanding Performer are Schowonda Williams (1987), Dawn Sowell (1989), Dawn Bowles (1992), Cheryl Taplin (1994) and Lolo Jones (2003).
After competing at the Texas Relays this weekend, the Tigers and Lady Tigers will return home next weekend to play host to this year’s “Battle on the Bayou” competition that will be held on Saturday, April 9, at Bernie Moore Track Stadium in Baton Rouge. They will then return to Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin in two weeks for an appearance at the one-day Texas Invitational being held on Saturday, April 16.