BATON ROUGE — After wrapping up the regular season a week ago with a pair of outstanding performances at the Penn Relays, the Tigers and Lady Tigers have solidified their position among the nation’s elite in the top six of the latest power ranking published by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Wednesday afternoon.
The Lady Tigers are ranked No. 3 nationally for the second-straight week, while the Tigers come in at No. 6 for the third week in a row in the USTFCCCA Top 25.
The LSU women continue to be led by the performance of their relay teams as they rank No. 1 in the country in the 4×400-meter relay with a seasonal-best time of 3 minutes, 31.81 seconds, while they also rank No. 2 nationally in the 4×100-meter relay with a top time of 43.39 seconds.
In addition, four Lady Tigers rank among the top-five in the NCAA in their respective events as Rachel Laurent currently ranks No. 3 in the pole vault (14-1 ?), Brittani Carter ranks No. 4 in the high jump (6-0), Samantha Henry ranks No. 5 in the 100-meter dash (11.19) and Kayann Thompson ranks No. 5 in the 800-meter run (2:04.25).
Two Tigers also rank No. 1 in the NCAA in their events as senior Trindon Holliday leads the way in the 100-meter dash with a seasonal-best time of 10.12, while fellow senior Jeremy Hicks sits at the top of the NCAA list with a top mark of 26 feet, 3 inches in the long jump.
Not only that, but sophomore Walter Henning ranks No. 2 nationally in the hammer throw with a seasonal best of 235-11, while LSU’s 4×100 relay ranks No. 3 with a top time of 38.89.
The squads will kick off the postseason May 15-17 as they travel to Gainesville, Fla., to compete in the 2009 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships hosted by the University of Florida at Pressly Stadium. The Lady Tigers enter the meet as the two-time defending champions, while the Tigers have finished runner-up in the team race in each of the last two seasons.
USTFCCCA Top 25
WOMEN
1. Texas A&M, 301.51
2. Oregon, 247.84
3. LSU, 245.49
4. Arizona State, 199.70
5. Florida State, 186.55
6. Virginia Tech, 185.41
7. Texas, 178.83
8. Tennessee, 177.98
9. Southern California, 176.94
10. Baylor, 172.79
11. Michigan, 169.32
12. BYU, 143.00
13. Penn State, 134.55
14. Miami (Fla.), 128.04
15. Arkansas, 127.17
16. Washington, 121.18
17. Florida, 119.93
18. Nebraska, 118.07
19. Minnesota, 111.00
20. Auburn, 105.72
21. UTEP, 94.57
22. South Carolina, 86.05
23. Stanford, 82.75
24. Texas Tech, 81.66
25. UCLA, 75.73
MEN
1. Florida, 290.01
2. Oregon, 287.41
3. Texas A&M, 242.76
4. Arizona State, 204.59
5. Florida State, 201.14
6. LSU, 193.66
7. Auburn, 183.95
8. Arkansas, 182.55
9. South Carolina, 178.35
10. Baylor, 178.31
11. Nebraska, 168.57
12. California, 144.03
13. Texas, 131.88
14. Washington, 130.83
15. Texas Tech, 127.96
16. Kentucky, 119.62
17. Stanford, 114.79
18. Southern California, 112.68
19. Georgia, 107.27
20. Virginia Tech, 94.86
21. BYU, 93.98
22. Arizona, 90.92
23. Louisville, 89.73
24. Tennessee, 87.89
25. Washington State, 87.66