BATON ROUGE – With the LSU Track & Field teams combining for 24 national semifinalists with their performance in Jacksonville, Florida, this past weekend, the Tigers and Lady Tigers are both ranked No. 4 as they prepare to make the trip to Eugene, Oregon, next week for the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The Tigers qualified 10 semifinalists and the Lady Tigers advanced 14 semifinalists from the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds that wrapped up Saturday at Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida.
After entering the weekend as the No. 2-ranked men’s team nationally this spring, the Tigers emerged from the preliminary rounds as a strong team trophy contender at the NCAA Championships as the No. 4-ranked team going to Eugene next week. The Lady Tigers capitalized on a strong week of qualifying by moving up four spots from No. 8 to No. 4 in the women’s power rankings.
While advancing both their 4×100-meter and 4×400-meter relays, other Tigers competing in Eugene from June 8-11 are LaMar Bruton, Michael Cherry and Fitzroy Dunkley all in the 400 meters; Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake in both the 100 meters and 200 meters along with Tinashe Mutanga in the 100 meters and Renard Howell in the 200 meters and Jordan Moore in the 110-meter hurdles.
Not only did the Lady Tigers qualify both of their relay teams into the national semifinals, but three athletes in the relay pools will also compete in two individual events with Mikiah Brisco in both the 100 meters and 100 hurdles, Chanice Chase in the 100 hurdles and 400 hurdles and Kortnei Johnson in the 100 meters and 200 meters. Rushell Harvey will also line up in the 100 meters, while Jada Martin returns in the 200 meters and Ka’Lynn Jupiter and Kymber Payne both run the 400 hurdles. Rounding out the Lady Tigers’ qualifiers are Morgan Schuetz in the 800 meters and Rebekah Wales in the javelin.
USTFCCCA TOP 25 (as of May 31)
MEN
Team (Points) Last Week
1. Texas A&M (337.55) 1
2. Florida (258.88) 3
3. Oregon (256.90) 4
4. LSU (228.88) 2
5. Arkansas (222.16) 5
6. Georgia (171.02) 6
7. Virginia Tech (138.58) 13
8. Tennessee (136.10) 12
9. Missouri (117.38) 18
10. Texas Tech (116.84) 10
11. Alabama (109.31) 8
12. Houston (105.26) 9
13. Washington (104.25) 22
14. UCLA (104.17) 24
15. Virginia (103.42) 11
16. Mississippi State (102.46) 21
17. Syracuse (99.82) 17
18. Ole Miss (94.62) 31
19. Akron (89.58) 41
20. Northern Arizona (88.91) 20
21. Clemson (88.37) 34
22. Air Force (87.94) 51
23. Purdue (87.07) 15
24. Nebraska (86.10) 23
25. BYU (85.21) 27
WOMEN
Team (Points) Last Week
1. Arkansas (384.54) 2
2. Kentucky (302.01) 1
3. Texas (230.78) 4
4. LSU (229.20) 8
5. Texas A&M (224.62) 5
6. Oregon (220.86) 3
7. Southern California (196.54) 6
8. Stanford (186.06) 7
9. Florida (176.77) 9
10. Tennessee (173.49) 11
11. Georgia (158.95) 10
12. Mississippi State (155.25) 13
13. Harvard (148.41) 17
14. Miami, Fla. (147.09) 15
15. Kansas State (143.46) 12
16. New Mexico (143.22) 16
17. Florida State (115.34) 20
18. Oklahoma (104.07) 14
19. Wisconsin (102.20) 18
20. Nebraska (93.47) 23
21. Michigan (86.37) 25
22. Texas Tech (80.49) 19
23. San Diego State (78.12) 26
24. Duke (75.70) 31
25. Notre Dame (70.89) 35