The LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete at the annual Southeastern Conference Championships starting at 9 a.m. Feb. 27-28 at Nutter Field House in Lexington, Kentucky.
The men’s team enters the meet with 86.11 team points for a No. 6 national ranking. It’s the fourth-best SEC team in the field, behind No. 1 Florida, No. 3 Arkansas and No. 4 Texas A&M.
The No. 21 Lady Tigers have 39 team points, making them the No. 8 SEC team.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers competed at Nutter Field House at the Rod McCravy Invitational Jan. 23-24, and traveled to Lexington a day early this week, to get used to the oversized track.
“None of the athletes on this year’s team had an opportunity during their collegiate career here at LSU to run in Lexington, so that was the main reason for us coming during the regular season,” said LSU track and field coach Dennis Shaver. “Even the field events are a little different here. The runways are a little different, and also the running events because of the oversized track.”
While competing for the SEC title, Shaver wants to pick up more national qualifiers in the field events, namely the vertical and horizontal jumps.
For the Lady Tigers, senior shot putter Tori Bliss enters the meet with the best chance to claim an SEC title. Her school-record breaking mark of 57 feet, 4 ¾ inches is second in the nation and best in the SEC.
Several men’s sprinters and hurdlers pose a threat for the title in their respective events.
In the 200-meter dash, the 2013 SEC Indoor Champion senior sprinter Aaron Ernest is poised for another title run as the second-fastest competitor in the field. Sophomore sprinter Tremayne Acy follows Ernest as the fourth-fastest runner in the SEC.
The 400-meter dash will feature two Tigers that are top six in the conference. Senior sprinter Vernon Norwood enters the meet as the reigning bronze-medalist in the event, while senior sprinter Quincy Downing was the sixth-place finisher last year.
Senior hurdler Joshua Thompson has his eye on the SEC title in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, an event in which he enters the meet with the second-fastest time in the conference.
The men’s 4×400-meter relay title will be hard-fought. The reigning NCAA champion LSU team’s best time this season is within two seconds of times run by Florida and Texas A&M.
Shaver said the competition at this weekend’s meet will prepare his athletes for an NCAA title shot, which will come March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
“In many ways this is a more difficult meet than what the national meet is simply because of the quality of the field in the SEC,” Shaver said. “It’s going to be a rehearsal in many events of what it’s going to be like at the national meet in a couple of weeks.”
You can reach Jacob Hamilton on Twitter @jhamilton_TDR.