BATON ROUGE — The field for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships is set and the LSU men’s and women’s squads have combined to qualify 18 athletes and four relay teams into the national meet it was announced Tuesday by the NCAA committee.
The Lady Tigers will have 10 individuals in the field, while the Tigers will be represented by eight athletes. Both squads will also be sending their 4×100 and 4×400-meter relay teams.
The Tigers will look to the oval for the majority of their scoring opportunities as sophomore standout Xavier Carter and senior Kellie Willie headline the list of competitors.
Carter, the 2006 NCAA Men’s Indoor Runner of the Year, will attempt to become the first person in NCAA history to win both the 100 and 400 meter titles at the national meet. Undefeated in open events this outdoor season, the six-time All-American is coming off an impressive effort at the Mideast Regional where he claimed titles in both events, posting an NCAA-leading time of 44.84 in the 400 meters and the nation’s fifth fastest time during the 100 meter prelims (10.08).
Willie, the Tigers’ all-time All-America awards leader, will attempt to cap his career with and individual title in the 200 meters. A third-place finisher in the event at this year’s NCAA indoor meet, he has been clocked at 20.21 this outdoor season and enters the meet with the field’s top time.
The Tigers will have another two athletes, in sophomore Reggie Dardar and junior Melville Rogers, joining Carter in the 400-meter field.
Dardar, a key member on the Tigers’ collegiate record setting 4×400 relay a year ago, as well as this year’s indoor national champion squad, will be making his first appearance at the NCAA meet in the open quarter. Having broken 46 seconds in the event twice this year, he enters the meet ranked 10th with a personal-best time of 45.86.
Rogers, who will also be participating as an individual at the NCAA meet for the first time in his career, earned an at large bid in the 400 meters for his season-best effort of 45.96 recorded in April.
Carter, Willie, Dardar and Rogers will likely comprise the Tigers’ 4×400 relay team that comes into the championships as the heavy favorite. Ranked No. 1 the entire outdoor season, the Tigers own the nation’s top time this season (3:02.21) and are undefeated through eight races, most recently claiming title at the SEC and Mideast Regional Championships.
Key to the Tigers’ success in the event will also be juniors Marvin Stevenson and Siraj Williams who will likely run during the meet’s preliminary round. Both ran on the squads that claimed conference and regional titles.
In the 4×100 relay, the Tigers will again be the team with the bull’s eye on their back. The foursome of Richard Thompson, Carter, Stevenson and Willie are undefeated in the event through eight races this season and own the nation’s top time at 38.89.
Traveling to the NCAA meet as an alternate on the short relay will be freshman sprinter Amel Alexander, who was a regional qualifier in the 200 meters.
Also on the track for the Tigers will be Isa Phillips in the 400-meter hurdles. The junior, who will be making his inaugural NCAA appearance, is coming off a personal-best performance at the regional meet that saw him post the third fastest time in the country to date (49.49).
In the field, the Tigers will be represented by freshman Jeremy Hicks in the long jump and seniors Darion Powell and Edwin Billot in the decathlon.
Hicks, an All-SEC selection in the event, qualified to the national meet after placing fourth at the regional championships. He owns the nation’s sixth-best mark this season (25-10 3/4).
Powell and Billot enter the meet with two of the top-10 decathlon point totals in the country.
Powell, a 2003 All-America selection in the decathlon, earned an automatic berth to this year’s national meet after tallying 7,640 points at the conference championships. His point total ranks as the sixth best in the nation this season.
Billot, who has also previously qualified to the NCAA meet in the decathlon, has posted the nation’s 10th-best point total to date, a personal-best 7,468.
On the women’s side, LSU will once again look to score the majority of its points on the track.
Sophomore Kelly Baptiste, who has qualified in both the 100 and 200 meters, will provide the Lady Tigers’ biggest scoring opportunities as the five-time All-American is ranked No. 3 in the 100 meters and No. 6 in the 200 meters with personal bests of 11.08 and 22.73, respectively.
Accompanying Baptiste in the short sprints will be junior Sherry Fletcher in the 100 meters and sophomore Brooklynn Morris in the 200 meters. Fletcher, a junior college transfer, will be making her first NCAA appearance after placing fifth in 100 meters at the regional meet. She has posted a season best of 11.40 seconds.
Morris, a three-time All-American earned, finished fifth in the 200 meters at the indoor national championships and has posted the NCAA’s 11th fastest time this season (22.99).
Baptiste, Morris and Fletcher will also join with sophomore Jessica Ohanaja for the 4×100 relay. The foursome, ranked No. 3 in the event behind Texas and USC, are coming off a win at the regional championships.
Traveling as an alternate on that relay squad will be junior college transfer Juanita Broaddus, a regional qualifier in the 100 meters.
In the 400 meters, the Lady Tigers will be represented by sophomore Deonna Lawrence and junior Cynetheia Rooks.
Lawrence, a four-time All-American, will look to improve on her sixth place finish in the open quarter at this year’s indoor meet. She enters the championships ranked fifth overall after posting a personal best of 51.75 at the regional meet.
Rooks, an NCAA qualifier in the event during the indoor season, will look to earn the first individual All-America honor of her career in the open quarter as she comes into the championships with the 12th best time this season (52.51).
Lawrence and Rooks are also crucial components of the Lady Tigers’ 4×400-meter relay team. Ranked No. 2 with a season-best of 3:27.96, LSU, winners of the 2006 indoor national title, will likely turn to juniors Meisue Francis and Broaddus to fill out the relay spots.
Francis will also be competing individually in the 800 meters. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native will be making her first trip to the national championships after clocking a personal-best 2:06.41 at the regional meet.
Lastly on the track, sophomore Angel Boyd will compete for the Lady Tigers in the 100-meter hurdles. On a hot streak as of late, Boyd owns the field’s eighth fastest time this season after clocking 13.04 at the regional championships.
In the field, the Lady Tigers will have three representatives in Andrea Linton, Shaunette Davidson and Megan Akre.
Linton, who will be competing in both the long jump and the triple jump, will be making her second appearance in the triple jump, but her first in the long jump at the NCAA meet. She has posted season bests of 20-10 1/2 and 42-11 1/2 to date.
Davidson will be making her inaugural NCAA appearance in the high jump after finishing tied for third at the regional championships. She has cleared an LSU best 5-10 this season.
Rounding out the list of competitors is senior heptathlete Megan Akre. An NCAA qualifier in the pentathlon during the indoor season, she advanced to the outdoor meet after notching a personal best 5,352 points at the Texas Relays.
Competition from the NCAA Outdoor Championships gets underway, June 7, at the A.G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento, Calif.