Baton Rouge, La. – The LSU track & field program will be in action at two meets this weekend. LSU’s jumpers, throwers, and distance runners will compete at the Bayou Bengal hosted at the Carl Maddox Field House in Baton Rouge on Friday, while the sprinters and hurdlers for the Tigers will head out west to the New Mexico Collegiate Classic on Friday and Saturday in Albuquerque, N.M., at the Albuquerque Convention Center.
Bayou Bengal | Meet Schedule | Heat Sheets | Live Results | Competition Guide
Thirty-five Tigers will be competing at the home meet on Friday. Highlighting those 35 athletes are a pair of All-Americans – Lisa Gunnarssson and Sean Dixon-Bodie – who will be making their 2022 season debuts. Gunnarsson, a two-time national champion in the pole vault, will compete for the first time since July of 2021 when she took third at the European U23 Championships. Gunnarsson holds the LSU school record in the indoor pole vault with a best clearance of 14’ 11.50” (4.56 meters) that came at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships to win her first NCAA title. That clearance of 14’ 11.50” also ranks her as the eighth best collegiate performer in the event. The women’s pole vault is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.
Dixon-Bodie will make his return to the triple jump runway with his first comp since the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials last June. Dixon-Bodie ranks as the No. 6 performer in the LSU record book with a career best indoor triple jump of 54’ 5.25” (16.59 meters) that he registered at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships to finish fifth and earn All-America honors.
The Tigers will have 14 athletes – nine women, five men – entered into the mile run. A full competition guide for the Bayou Bengal can be viewed at the link above.
LSU will welcome the likes of Alcorn State, Grambling State, Hinds CC, McNeese State, Meridan CC, New Orleans, Nicholls State, Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana, Southern University, Tulane, and Xavier (La.) to the Carl Maddox Field House.
New Mexico Collegiate Classic | Meet Schedule | Live Results | Live Stream ($)
A group of 16 sprinters will go to Albuquerque with quick times on their mind as they will be running at altitude. For all the sprint events, time will be added to the performances for NCAA qualifying purposes due to being run at altitude.
Eleven athletes will line up in the 200 meter dash on Friday night including NCAA No. 3 in the event, Favour Ofili. Ofili owns a season best time of 22.80 that she ran just six days ago in Fayetteville. Her personal best of 22.75 will be within reaching distance undoubtedly as the track at the Albuquerque Convention Center is known for producing fast times.
Leah Phillips, who lowered her personal best in both the 200 meters and 60 meter hurdles a week ago, will do the double again by competing in the 200 meter dash on Friday night and running the 60 meter hurdles on Saturday. For a full list of LSU athletes competing in New Mexico, please visit the competition guide linked near the top of the story.
USTFCCCA Rankings
The LSU women moved up to No. 5 in the latest edition of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Rating Index that was released on Monday.
LSU Top 10 Marks
Four LSU athletes have worked their way into the LSU top 10 or bettered previous top 10 marks this season. We’ll start with Alia Armstrong who ran a career best time of 7.86 seconds in the 60 meter hurdles to match the LSU school record in the event alongside former teammate Tonea Marshall. Armstrong’s time of 7.86 matched the third fastest performance in collegiate history and it earned her SEC Track Athlete of the Week honors.
John Meyer has moved into the No. 2 spot on the all-time LSU list in the shot put with a season best throw of 63’ 6.75” (19.37 meters) that he notched at last week’s Razorback Invitational. The other two marks in the LSU top 10 also came at the Razorback Invitational from Michaela Rose and Morgan Smalls. Rose PR’d in her first collegiate 800 meter race with a time of 2:04.80 to rank No. 10 in LSU history, and Morgan Smalls’ high jump clearance of 5’ 10.75” (1.80 meters) is tied for the ninth best all-time at LSU.
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