Despite being ranked No. 1, the LSU women’s track and field team is not the favorite to win the Southeastern Conference Championship meet this weekend at Arkansas.
No. 3 Arkansas is the expected winner.
LSU coach Dennis Shaver said to win the SEC Championship, teams must have both quality and depth, but winning the NCAA meet, which is in two weeks, only requires quality.
“The reason we’re ranked above Arkansas right now is because of our quality, not depth,” Shaver said.
Shaver said the SEC meet will be close, so every point the Lady Tigers can add on Friday and Saturday will help the team Sunday afternoon.
Shaver said the Lady Tigers must score in 12 or 13 of the 16 total events, but beating Arkansas competitors in the events will ultimately win the meet on the women’s side for LSU.
“When you have that kind of result, it adds points to your team and it takes away some points from their team,” Shaver said.
LSU will also have to hold off No. 6 Florida, No. 7 Georgia and No. 9 Texas A&M.
On the men’s side of the meet, No. 1 Arkansas will dominate the meet according to Shaver. Following the Razorbacks are No. 2 Florida and No. 3 Texas A&M. Shaver said the rest of the conference will scramble for the 4th- through 8th-place rankings, including No. 16 LSU.
The LSU men’s track and field team hasn’t won an SEC conference meet since 1990, and Shaver credits that to the team’s lack of depth.
“It’s just one of those things that’s a real challenge for us just because of the make up of our team,” he said.
Shaver said the SEC has always been this competitive, but the addition of Texas A&M and Missouri has changed the dynamics of the meet. He said A&M has an overall solid program, but Mizzou brings competition in the throws on both the men’s and women’s side.
“When [the expansion] just happened last year, [we] don’t have enough time to adjust your team makeup to become more competitive,” Shaver said. “It’s those teams that are already made up that way that’ll have that success.”