Sylvia Russell Season 2024
LSU track and field Head Coach Dennis Shaver announced the hiring of Sylvia Russell as an assistant coach on September 15, 2023. The 2024-25 season will mark her second year as part of the program.
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.