EUGENE, Ore. – The LSU Track & Field teams have put the finishing touches on their preparation with two days of training at Hayward Field as they are now ready to line up and compete in the semifinal and final rounds at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships beginning Wednesday at the University of Oregon.
The NCAA Outdoor Championships return to the University of Oregon for the fourth-straight season as the Tigers and Lady Tigers also ended their seasons at Hayward Field in each season since 2013.
The NCAA adopted a new format to crown its national champions a year ago with the men’s and women’s competitions being held on different days. That format will also be in place again this week as the men are set to compete Wednesday and Friday followed by the women on Thursday and Saturday. The Tigers compete for the first time at 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday and 7:30 p.m. on Friday as they will be among the contenders for the team title. The Lady Tigers compete at 6:30 p.m. CT on Thursday and 5:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships will feature live television coverage once again as ESPN2 will air Wednesday’s opener beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT. ESPNU will pick up the initial coverage for Thursday beginning at 6:30 p.m. before ESPN takes over at 7 p.m., while ESPN continues its coverage on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 5:30 p.m. in the finale of both championships.
ESPN3.com will also feature live streaming video of each day of the championship on Wednesday from 2:30-10:30 p.m. CT, Thursday from 12:30-10:30 p.m., Friday from 2:30-10 p.m. and Saturday from 1:30-8 p.m.
Live results from the semifinal and final rounds of the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships will be provided by Flash Results and can be found online at http://www.flashresults.com.
Fans can also receive live updates and behind-the-scenes coverage of the Tigers and Lady Tigers competing this week in their 2016 outdoor season finale at the NCAA Outdoor Championships by liking LSU Track & Field on Facebook at http://facebook.com/lsutrackfield and by following @LSUTrackField on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lsutrackfield and Instagram at http://instagram.com/lsutrackfield.
Good luck to @LSUTrackField at NCAAs this week! Get it done! #GeauxTigers 🐯
— VERNON L. NORWOOD (@Vernon400m) June 7, 2016
The Tigers will line up at the NCAA Championships as the No. 4-ranked men’s team in the country after qualifying 10 semifinalists into the meet from the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds held in Jacksonville, Florida, from May 26-28. The Lady Tigers are also the No. 4-ranked women’s team nationally in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 25 power rankings with 14 semifinalists in their squad.
The semifinal round of the NCAA Championship will include the Top 24 finishers in each event from the NCAA Preliminary Rounds held two weeks ago. That includes the Top 12 finishers in each event from the East site held at Hodges Stadium at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville and the Top 12 finishers in each event from the West site at Rock Chalk Park at the University of Kansas.
The Tigers took home the fourth-place men’s team trophy for the second-straight season last spring while totaling 45 points in the final team standings in their two days of competition at Hayward Field. The Lady Tigers finished on the cusp of the Top 10 of the final team standings while scoring 26 points for an 11th-place finish in the women’s competition.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers have combined for an impressive 18 team titles all-time at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships between the two programs. They own 31 national championships all-time between the indoor and outdoor seasons as one of the most decorated combined programs in the history of collegiate track and field. The Tigers last won the NCAA Outdoor crown on the men’s side in 2002, while the Lady Tigers last took home the women’s team title during the 2008 season.
While it has been 13 seasons since the Tigers were last crowned the NCAA Outdoor team champions, they arrive at Hayward Field this week riding the longest active streak of top-10 national finishes in men’s programs as they have cracked the Top 10 nationally in 18-straight years since 1998. They have also finished among the Top 5 nationally in 14 of the past 16 seasons as part of their run.
Theirs is a streak that includes four runner-up finishes in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2012 and a pair of third-place team finishes nationally in 2004 and 2005 as the Tigers look to add to their trophy cabinet again in 2016.
While the Tigers have proven themselves as one of the NCAA’s most consistent men’s programs in recent years, the Lady Tigers have finished outside the Top 7 in the team standings just twice in that span. They had a run of nine-straight seasons finishing among the Top 10 women’s teams nationally from 2006-14 snapped with their 11th-place finish a season ago.
Below is the complete list of LSU’s semifinalists scheduled to compete this week at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the Tigers and Lady Tigers wrap up the 2016 collegiate season.
LSU’s Qualifiers for the NCAA Championships Semifinals in Eugene, Oregon
Note: All times and marks were achieved this weekend at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds
Tigers
Name, Event, Time/Mark (Place)
LaMar Bruton, 400 Meters, 45.99 (10)
Michael Cherry, 400 Meters, 45.22 (1)
Fitzroy Dunkley, 400 Meters, 45.46 (3)
Renard Howell, 200 Meters, 20.25w (3)
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, 100 Meters, 10.20 (2)
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, 200 Meters, 19.96w (1)
Jordan Moore, 110 Hurdles, 13.54 (5)
Tinashe Mutanga, 100 Meters, 10.34 (8)
Flournoy, Howell, Acy, Mitchell-Blake; 4×100 Relay; 39.04 (1)
Bruton, Cherry, Grayson, Dunkley; 4×400 Relay; 3:02.26 (1)
Lady Tigers
Name, Event, Time/Mark (Place)
Mikiah Brisco, 100 Meters, 11.32 (3)
Mikiah Brisco, 100 Hurdles, 13.02w (6)
Chanice Chase, 100 Hurdles, 12.92w (4)
Chanice Chase, 400 Hurdles, 55.35 (3)
Rushell Harvey, 100 Meters, 11.46 (10)
Kortnei Johnson, 100 Meters, 11.27 (1)
Kortnei Johnson, 200 Meters, 22.67w (5)
Ka’Lynn Jupiter, 400 Hurdles, 56.63 (11)
Jada Martin, 200 Meters, 22.41w (3)
Kymber Payne, 400 Hurdles, 56.38 (9)
Morgan Schuetz, 800 Meters, 2:04.86 (12)
Rebekah Wales, Javelin, 161-6 (6)
Brisco, Johnson, Martin, Harvey; 4×100 Relay; 43.43 (2)
Jones, Martin, Misher, Chase; 4×400 Relay; 3:29.91 (4)
Television/Streaming Schedule
Date, Time (CT), Network
Wed., June 8, 6:30-7:30 p.m., ESPNU
Wed., June 8, 7:30-10 p.m., ESPN2
Wed., June 8, 2:30-10:30 p.m., ESPN3
Thurs., June 9, 6:30-7 p.m., ESPNU
Thurs., June 9, 7-9:30 p.m., ESPN
Thurs., June 9, 12:30-10:30 p.m., ESPN3
Fri., June 10, 7:30 -10 p.m., ESPN
Fri., June 10, 2:30-10 p.m., ESPN3
Sat., June 11, 5:30 -8 p.m., ESPN
Sat., June 11, 1:30-8 p.m., ESPN3