Sylvia Russell Season 2025
LSU track and field Head Coach Dennis Shaver announced the hiring of Sylvia Russell as an assistant coach on September 15, 2023. The 2025-26 season will mark her third year as part of the program.
The best season in LSU cross-country history is now held by coach Houston Franks and assistant coach Sylvia Russell after they led the women’s team to the first NCAA Championship appearance in program history during the 2025 season.
The women’s 2025 season had many things worth talking about. Closing with a 23rd overall finish at the NCAA Championships, beating eight teams ranked ahead of them nationally. A 23rd overall finish led to the Tigers being ranked No. 23 in the country by USTFCCCA, the highest in program history. Prior to the finish, the coaches led LSU to their first ever national ranking in program history by USTFCCCA as they jumped to No. 30 in the nation (11/4).
Prior to making the first ever title meet as a team, Russell helped the Tigers to their first ever top-two finish at the NCAA South Central Regional as the women finished second at the regional with 86 points. Four women were name All-Region members in Yuya Sawada, Abigael Chemnagei, Edna Chepkemoi and Micaela Villarreal at the meet for finishing in the top 25. Emedy Kiplimo was also tabbed All-Region on the men’s side at the meet.
At the 2025 SEC XC Championships, Franks and Russell saw the women tie a program best fourth-place finish as a team with a total of 149 points. Chepkemoi was named Second Team All-SEC at the meet with her 13th-place finish to lead LSU.
During the 2025 season, the women had a total of 28 top-20 finishes and 14 top-10 finishes. There were eight finishes from the women’s side under 20 minutes in the 6k, including a season-best time of 19:32.0 from Yuya Sawada at the Arturo Barrios Invitational.
Assisting Coach Houston Franks once again, the 2025 T&F distance squad brought the heat and delivered 23 top-10 performances in LSU history during the indoor and outdoor seasons.
One of the greatest middle-distance runners in collegiate history, Michaela Rose, had yet another fantastic season in 2025. She finished her career with five of the 10 fastest times in collegiate history in the outdoor 800 meter with No. 2 and four through seven on the all-time NCAA DI list. Rose closed her career with 12 sub-two-minute 800m times in her outdoor career, eight more than the next best runner in collegiate history.
Rose finished the 2025 outdoor season earning First Team All-American honors in the 800m with her fourth-place finish and a time of 1:59.47 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She earned her third straight SEC 800m outdoor title in dominant fashion with a time of 1:59.75 in the final. To close her regular season, she clocked a new LSU record and No. 2 time in collegiate history of 1:58.12 at the LSU Invitational in the 800m. The time of 1:58.12 at the meet ranked first in the USA and No. 3 in the world before entering the postseason. She clocked a personal-best time of 4:10.38 in the 1500 meter at the Bryan Clay Invitational, which improved her No. 2 time in LSU performance-list history.
She closed her indoor career holding four of the 10-fastest times in collegiate history across the indoor 800 meter with No. 2, No. 3, No. 6 and No. 10. Also closed her career with the most sub-two-minute 800m times in NCAA indoor history at three. She earned two First Team All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing fourth overall in the 800m. She won her third straight SEC title in the 800m at the conference meet with a time of 2:00.25 in the final.
Rose was named the 2024-25 LSWA Women’s Track Athlete of the Year and was a member of The Bowerman Watch List for a majority of the year.
Lorena Rangel Batres only had an indoor season left for the Tigers in 2025, but she made the most of it under the tutelage of Coach Franks and Coach Russell. She solidified herself as one of the top middle-distance runners in program history earning First Team and Second Team All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships. At the conference meet, finished second in the mile with a time of 4:30.25 to earn Second Team All-SEC honors. During the regular season she clocked an LSU record of 4:26.56 in the mile, which was a Mexican national record. Her 1500-meter split of 4:08.96 was an LSU record, Mexican national record and No. 11 in collegiate history.
The LSWA Women’s Freshman of the Year was Edna Chepkemoi who closed her first season with LSU as a First Team All-American. The Kenyan clocked an LSU record of 32:10.75 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships finishing sixth overall. During the outdoor season she clocked the No. 3 5000m performance in LSU history with a time of 16:18.55 at the Bryan Clay Invitational. At the same meet, Chepkemoi clocked the No. 6 steeplechase performance in LSU history of 10:32.30. Indoors, Chepkemoi only competed in three meets for the Tigers but earned bronze at the SEC Indoor Championships with an LSU record and personal-best time of 15:39.43 in the 5000 meter. She ran an LSU record and personal-best time of 9:10.79 in the 3000 meter at the Boston Valentine Invitational indoors as well.
Possibly the biggest highlight of the season for the distance squad was the women’s DMR. At the indoor national meet, the Tigers finished fourth overall with an LSU record time of 10:47.17 to earn First Team honors. The time of 10:47.17 put the DMR team at No. 7 on the all-time collegiate performance list. The DMR squad also clocked what was an LSU record of 10:50.15 to win the SEC Indoor title, becoming the first LSU women’s DMR team to win conference gold since the lone team to do so in 1985.
Another successful year for the cross-country program in 2024 saw the Lady Tigers finish fourth at the NCAA South Central Regional, just three points from third.
The 2024 season also saw senior Lorena Rangel Batres become the fourth Lady Tiger in program history to reach the NCAA Championships. Rangel Batres qualified by finishing sixth overall at the regional meet, earning an automatic spot as she finished one of the four-best runners on a non-auto qualifying team. She closed the year taking 138th at the NCAA Championships with a 6k time of 20:45.6, making her the second-highest finisher in LSU history for the women’s team.
At the NCAA South Central Regional, three Tigers earned the distinction of All-Region from USTFCCCA. The honor is given to those that finish in the top-25 of the regional race; the Tigers that were honored were Rangel Batres, Michaela Rose and Ella Chesnut.
Assisting Coach Houston Franks, Coach Russell saw a plethora of student-athletes during the 2024 track season that registered a total of 24 LSU top-10 marks over the course of the season including program records from Ella Chesnut, Callie Hardy, Lorena Rangel Batres, Michaela Rose and Garriel White.
Another banner year for Michaela Rose was the highlight of the distance group for the 2024 season. Rose had many accolades during the new season, including four All-American honors, SEC Women’s Indoor Co-Runner of the Year, The Bowerman Watch List, USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week and two All-SEC nods.
Outdoors, Rose finished her 2024 collegiate campaign with four of the five fastest 800-meter times in collegiate history and collectively holds seven sub-two-minute 800m races in her career. She finished fourth at the US Olympic Team Trials, just missing the 2024 Paris Olympics by one spot. Prior to the US Trials she finished fourth in the NCAA Outdoor Championship final and collected her fourth SEC 800-meter title since the start of 2023. Her gold title at the SEC Championships plus her contribution to the 4×400-meter relay totaled 11 points for LSU and was a boost for the Tigers claim on their 26th SEC women’s championship title.
Although she recorded many amazing times during the outdoor season, Rose was at her best at the Bryan Clay Invitational where she recorded the LSU record of 1:58.37. The time of 1:58.37 ranked second in collegiate history, first in the NCAA and was third in the USA at the time. At the SEC Outdoor Championships on her way to gold, Rose recorded a time of 1:58.89 to become the first runner in collegiate history to go sub-1:59 twice in their career. The talented junior also recorded an outdoor-collegiate record of 1:25.75 in the 600 meter to open up her outdoor campaign a the Keyth Talley Invitational.
The indoor season for Michaela Rose was just as amazing as she became the only 800-meter runner in collegiate history to go sub-two minutes in the event three or more times. Indoors she claimed her third of four SEC titles in the 800 meter and collected silver at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston. On her way to SEC gold she recorded a time of 1:59.25 improving her LSU record and No. 2 time in collegiate history. At the Corky Classic she record her first of two collegiate records during the 2024 season in the 600 yard, where she went 1:16.76. In the mile she recorded the No. 3 time in LSU performance-list history of 4:38.64 on top of her many accomplishments.
Lorena Rangel Batres closed out her 2024 season reaffirming her place as one of the best middle-distance runners in LSU history. Rangel Batres indoor and outdoor seasons included four LSU records and a claim to the 800-meter throne at the Mexican National Championships with a side of silver in the 1500 meter.
Outdoor Rangel Batres finished with All-American honors with her 15th-place finish at the NCAA Championships and All-SEC honors with silver at the SEC Championships in the 1500 meter. She was an instrumental part of the Tigers winning the SEC Women’s Outdoor Championship title, totaling 12 points in the 1500m and 800 meter. At the NCAA East First Round, Rangel Batres rewrote her program record in the 1500m as she clocked 4:09.06. Her season opened up at the Hurricane Invitational where she clocked the 3000-meter program record of 9:20.15. In the 800m she recorded a No. 10 time on the LSU performance list of 2:03.00 at the Battle on the Bayou.
Indoors, Rangel Batres claimed silver in the mile at the SEC Indoor Championships with a time of 4:39.51 in the final. She improved her LSU record in the mile at the Boston David Hemery Valentine Invitational when she clocked 4:39.51.
Coach Russel saw the distance-medley relay squad go back-to-back years with a new indoor program record. The 2024 squad of Callie Hardy, Garriel White, Michaela Rose and Lorena Rangel Batres recorded 10:55.27, erasing a second off of last year’s record of 10:56.41.
The 2023 cross-country season saw Sylvia assist Coach Houston Franks and the Lady Tigers to tying the program’s highest finish of third at the NCAA South Central Regional.
Ella Chesnut finished the season as just the third Tiger in program history to reach the NCAA Championships after finishing in fourth at the NCAA South Central Regional with a personal-best time of 20:18.4 in the 6k. Chesnut’s fourth-place finish at regionals made her the highest regional finisher in program history, and gave her USTFCCCA All-Region honors. The Houma, La., native went on to finish 196th at the NCAA Championships.
Sophomore Michaela Rose was also crowned a USTFCCCA South Central All-Region member for the second season in a row after finishing 18th at the NCAA South Central Regional with a 6k time of 21:03.7.
Russell joined the staff as an assistant coach for the women’s and men’s track and field and cross-country teams. She coaches the distance squad alongside assistant coach Houston Franks.
Russell graduated from Mississippi State in 2020 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and soon followed it up in 2022 with a master’s of science in food science, nutrition, and health promotion. While studying there, the Ajax, Ontario, Canada, native competed for the Bulldogs in track & field and cross country.
After earning her first master’s degree she went to West Virginia to compete for the Mountaineers and complete her second master’s degree in public administration in 2023.
Russell was an USTFCCCA All-Academic member and a perennial SEC Honor Roll member during her collegiate career. She held personal-best times of 17:13.6 (5k) and 20:38.2 (6k) in college.