BATON ROUGE — The LSU track and field team wraps up its regular season schedule this weekend as it travels to Philadelphia, Pa., for the 112th annual Penn Relays at the University of Penn’s Franklin Field.
The meet, the longest running and best attended annually in the United States, will feature over 230 different colleges and universities, including 21 of the nation’s top-25 teams.
The bulk of the meet’s events will run Thursday through Saturday with action beginning in both the field and running events at approximately at 9 a.m. (CT) each day.
With the schedule on the track consisting primarily of relay events, both the Tigers and Lady Tigers should have plenty of opportunities to showcase their talents.
The men’s squad enters the meet undefeated and ranked No. 1 nationally in both the 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays, having won five straight races in both events.
The Tigers are also expected to put together a tough 4×200-meter relay squad as Olympic gold medalist Kelly Willie and Xavier Carter, the 2006 NCAA Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, are expected to run in the finals.
A sweep of the three men’s relay events would put the Tigers among elite Penn Relays company as only four schools in the 111-year history of the meet have ever won all three sprint relays in the same year.
The Lady Tigers will also be one of the top contenders in the same three relay events as both LSU’s 4×100 and 4×400 relays are currently ranked No. 2 in the country.
However, the Lady Tigers will be challenged by the nation’s best as Texas’ top-ranked 4×100 team and Miami’s national leading 4×400 squad are also scheduled to run.
In addition, the Lady Tiger’ 4×200 team will be looking to keep their unbeaten streak alive as they have won each of the 4×200 races they have entered this season, including the prestigious Texas Relays.
LSU will also have several competitors in the field events. Athletes to watch include sophomore Andrea Linton in the women’s triple jump and freshman Jeremy Hicks in the long jump. Both athletes have posted marks that ranks among the NCAA’s top-20 this season and will be looking to improve on those distances heading into postseason competition.
Following the Penn Relays, the LSU track and field team will take a weekend off in order to gear up for the postseason as competition at the SEC Outdoor Championships is scheduled for, May 11-14, in Fayetteville, Ark.