BATON ROUGE — Following their strong performances at the 80th Texas Relays this past weekend, the LSU track and field teams have maintained their position among the nation’s top 10 in the Trackwire 25 and Coaches’ Poll released Tuesday.
The Lady Tigers are the consensus No. 2 team in the nation for the second week as they only trail top-ranked Arizona State in this week’s Trackwire 25 power ranking and the first U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 20 of the outdoor season.
USC follows Arizona State and LSU in the No. 3 spot in both polls. South Carolina is ranked No. 4 in the Trackwire 25 power rankings followed by No. 5 Texas A&M, while the Aggies are in the No. 4 spot in the Coaches Poll with No. 5 Texas rounding out the nation’s top five.
The Tigers have entered the first Coaches’ Poll of the outdoor season at No. 9 in the country, while they are also ranked among the nation’s Top 10 squads in this week’s Trackwire 25 as they drop to No. 10 after being ranked seventh last week.
The Florida State Seminoles are the prohibitive favorite to repeat as outdoor national champions on the men’s side as they remain the nation’s consensus No. 1 team in both polls, while both the Trackwire 25 and Coaches Poll feature identical top-fives, including No. 2 Auburn, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Arizona and No. 5 Tennessee.
The Lady Tigers are among the national favorites to compete for an outdoor national title this season as a total of nine athletes and a pair of relay teams find themselves ranked in this week’s Trackwire Dandy Dozen, which is a ranking of the nation’s top 12 performers in each event scored at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Junior Kelly Baptiste leads the women’s squad as she is the nation’s second-ranked athlete in the 100-meter dash, while she is also ranked third in the 200 meters along with junior Brooklynn Morris at No. 10 and senior Sherry Fletcher at No. 12.
The Lady Tigers also feature a pair of nationally-ranked athletes in the 400-meter dash as senior Cynetheia Rooks is ranked 11th and junior Deonna Lawrence is 12th in the event, while freshman SEC indoor champion LaTavia Thomas is currently ranked No. 10 in the 800-meter run.
Sophomore Nickiesha Wilson, who was named the SEC Women’s Runner of the Week on Tuesday for her performance at the Texas Relays this past weekend, is among the nation’s premier hurdlers as she is ranked No. 2 in the country in the 400 hurdles while also being ranked sixth in the 100 hurdles along with junior Jessica Ohanaja at No. 5.
On the men’s side, sophomore sprint standout Trindon Holliday makes his debut in the Dandy Dozen as he is the nation’s 11th-ranked performer in the 100-meter dash after making his season debut at the Texas Relays.
Seniors Alleyne Lett and Isa Phillips will lead the Tigers’ effort in the hurdles this season as they are each ranked No. 4 in the 110 hurdles and 400 hurdles, respectively. Freshman Jamaal James is LSU’s top middle distance runner as he holds onto the No. 6 spot in the 800 meters for the second straight week.
The Tigers also feature four nationally-ranked athletes in the field events as freshman Will Coppage and sophomore Chad Radgowski are ranked sixth in the long jump and javelin, respectively, while sophomore Jeremy Hicks is ranked 12th in the long jump and freshman Preston Chatham is ninth in the javelin.
The squads also feature four of the nation’s premier relay teams as the women are among the national favorites to win titles in both the 4×100 and 4×400-meter relays as they are ranked second and third, respectively. The men are currently ranked fifth in the 1,600-meter relay, while they are also ranked 10th in the 4×100.
The teams will head back on the road this weekend as they travel to Tempe, Ariz., to compete in the Sun Angel Invitational on Saturday at Sun Angel Stadium, Joe Selleh Track. They will then play host to the LSU Alumni Gold at the Bernie Moore Track Stadium on April 21.
Trackwire 25
WOMEN
1. Arizona State, 61
2. LSU, 43
3. Southern California, 36
4. South Carolina, 34
5. Texas A&M, 31
t6. Texas, 29
t6. Michigan, 29
8. Auburn, 27
9. Georgia, 26
10. Oregon, 25
11. UCLA, 24
12. Stanford, 13
13. Texas Tech, 21
t14. California, 18
t14. Miami, Fla., 18
16. BYU, 17
17. Tennessee, 15
t19. Florida, 14
t19. Duke, 14
21. Washington State, 13
t22. Illinois, 12
t22. Georgia Tech, 12
t22. Colorado, 12
t22. UTEP, 12
MEN
1. Florida State, 63
2. Auburn, 44
3. Southern California, 40
4. Arizona, 34
5. Tennessee, 30
6. Wisconsin, 28
7. Arizona State, 27
8. Oregon, 26
9. Arkansas, 25
10. LSU, 23
t11. Washington, 22
t11. Clemson, 22
13. North Carolina, 21
14. Louisville, 20
t15. Baylor, 19
t15. Texas, 19
17. UCLA, 17
t18. Florida, 16
t18. McNeese State, 16
t18. UTEP, 16
t18. Nebraska, 16
t18. Georgia, 16
t23. Texas Tech, 15
t23. Ole Miss, 15
t23. Stanford, 13
Coaches’ Poll
WOMEN
1. Arizona State
2. LSU
3. Southern California
4. Texas A&M
5. Texas
6. South Carolina
7. Georgia
8. Oregon
9. UCLA
10. Auburn
11. Michigan
12. Stanford
13. Texas Tech
14. Miami, Fla.
15. California
16. Minnesota
17. Tennessee
18. Washington State
19. Duke
20. UTEP
MEN
1. Florida State
2. Auburn
3. Southern California
4. Arizona
5. Tennessee
6. Texas
7. Arkansas
8. Wisconsin
9. LSU
10. Clemson
11. Washington
12. Florida
13. UTEP
14. UCLA
15. Oregon
16. Baylor
17. North Carolina
18. Louisville
19. Arizona State
20. Texas Tech