The LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams compete in their last regular-season meet at the annual LSU Twilight meet at 2:30 p.m. Friday at the Carl Maddox Field House in Baton Rouge.
The teams are primed for another championship run as the men’s and women’s teams are both ranked in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Top 25 power rankings before the last regular season meet of the
indoor season.
The No. 6 Tigers have 10 marks that rank among the top-16 in their events to qualify for the NCAA Championships spanning March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Lady Tigers’ No. 18 ranking is solidified by six qualifying scores.
The Tigers’ sprinters, hurdlers and 4×400-meter relay team account for all of the
qualifying scores.
“We have an opportunity in the 400-meters down and in the hurdles on the men’s side,” said LSU track and field coach Dennis Shaver. “From an NCAA standpoint, we are not where we would like to see us be in jumps, throws and middle-distance races. To make a run at being a national champion, we have to have people that can score in all of the events.”
LSU has three sprinters with qualifying times in the men’s 200-meter dash, including two of the 10 fastest times. Senior Aaron Ernest leads the team with a time of 20.73 seconds for a No. 5 ranking, sophomore Tremayne Acy is No. 9 with a career-best 20.85, and senior Vernon Norwood’s time of 20.92 is No. 15 in the nation.
Norwood also has a qualifying time in the men’s 400-meter dash, in which he ranks No. 4 with a time of 45.56. He is accompanied by senior Quincy Downing at No. 9 and junior Darrell Bush at No. 15.
Acy also has the 16th-fastest time in the nation in the men’s 60-meter dash.
Senior Joshua Thompson is No. 5 nationally in the men’s 60-meter hurdles after tallying a career-best time of 7.73 at last weekend’s Tyson Invitational, while sophomore Jordan Moore has the 13th-fastest time
in the event.
The last NCAA qualifying time on the men’s team is the No. 3 ranked 4×400-meter relay team consisting of Bush, Downing, junior Cyril Grayson and Norwood.
The Lady Tigers are led by senior Tori Bliss, who ranks second nationally in shot put with an indoor school record of 57 feet and 4 ¾ inches.
Sophomore Nataliyah Friar has excelled in two events this season, after qualifying for the NCAA finals in the long jump during her inaugural indoor season. While she is No. 16 in the long jump, she has the 12th-longest triple jump mark in the nation.
The Lady Tigers have two freshman qualifiers in the 60-meter dash. Freshmen Aleia Hobbs and Mikiah Brisco are No. 12 and 13, respectively.
Sophomore Jada Martin rounds out the women’s qualifiers with the 10th-best mark in the nation in the 200-meter dash.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers have the LSU Twilight meet and the Southeastern Conference Championships to improve their scores to qualify for the NCAA Championships, and Shaver said he wants to see improvement in the field events.
“The regular season is winding down this Friday night, then we get into the championship portion of the season,” Shaver said. “[The SEC Championships] is their last opportunity to qualify. We hope we pick up some more people, but in reality it’s a really tough competition.”
“You’re going to see a lot of movement take place in the top 16 spots in a lot of those events over the next weekend.”
You can reach Jacob Hamilton on Twitter at @jhamilton_TDR.