The LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams will look to continue the program’s winning ways at the 121st running of the Penn Relay Carnival. The three-day event begins at 9:00 a.m. Thursday morning and concludes Saturday with the annual “USA vs. The World” events.
With only one meet separating the Penn Relays and Southeastern Conference Championships, LSU track and field coach Dennis Shaver said the meet is exactly what his athletes need to prepare for the postseason.
“The main thing we’re going to that meet is to give them the experience of performing in front of a crowd of 45,000 to 50,000 people,” Shaver said. “The biggest benefit we get from it is there’s a lot of distractions, so we find out who can stay focused on the task. When you get to the big championship meets there’s that similar kind of pressure and distraction”
Shaver said he isn’t expecting everyone to post a personal-best mark this weekend after the No. 4 Tigers and No. 15 Lady Tigers recorded back-to-back record-breaking performances at the Jim Click Shootout and LSU Alumni Gold meet.
The men’s and women’s sprinters went on a tear the past two meets, including setting Drachman Stadium records in the men’s and women’s 4×100-meter relay races at the Jim Click Shootout.
After running the fastest time in the nation and setting the second-fastest mark in school history in the 400-meter dash, senior sprinter Vernon Norwood will step on the track as the reigning Men’s NCAA Division I Athlete of the Week. The achievement moved him even closer to the school record.
“It’s always on my mind,” Norwood said in a press release. “I think about the school record a lot. I want to leave as one of the best 400 runners that’s ever been here.”
Norwood will look to put his name in history this weekend by securing a relay title for LSU for the 25th year in a row. Norwood is running in the 4×100, 4×200 and 4×400-meter relay races, and the Tigers will also line up in the sprint medley relay.
The Lady Tigers are competing in the four sprint relays, 4×100-meter shuttle hurdle relay and distance medley relay.
Senior thrower Rodney Brown hopes to highlight the field events for the Tigers in the discus throw after earning the College Men’s Individual Athlete of the Meet award during his junior season. Brown broke the meet record with a throw of 210 feet and 10 inches last season, and he hopes to defend his title as he enters the meet with a seasonal-best mark of 209-8.
“He’s the favorite because he has thrown farther than everybody else,” Shaver said. “There’s still a lot of competitive opportunities for people to challenge him, and I know he has a target on his back … He’s certainly somebody that’s working really hard to be a big contributor for us and somebody that we’ve got a lot of confidence in.”