Getting extremely close to what individuals have always wanted serves as motivation to reach their goals – just ask the LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams.
A recent slew of second- place finishes, including a pair at the NCAA Outdoor Championships this past season, are a big reason why the LSU track teams are looking to win multiple championships this season. The teams open the indoor season Saturday in the Purple Tiger Classic at the Carl Maddox Field House.
“We’ve had a lot of second-place finishes, and those finishes have been with an awful lot of the kids that are still on our team,” said LSU coach Dennis Shaver. “The one thing I’ve noticed is the kind of ownership that they’re taking and the steps that I feel like they’re taking as a whole to try to close the door on [the national championship].”
Senior sprinter Reggie Dardar said the team is very close to winning a national title.
“It just takes everybody being healthy that one time and going out there and doing their job,” Dardar said.
The teams will have to replace several talented runners from this past season, including 400-meter hurdle and 100-meter dash champions Isa Phillips and Sherry Fletcher, respectively. But the Tigers and Lady Tigers still have experience on their side.
The two teams combine for 39 returning lettermen. The women’s team returns 20 while the men’s team returns 19. This means a majority of this season’s team remembers how close both sides came to winning the Outdoor National Championship this past season.
“You talk about [the runner-up finishes] all you want but until you go through it and you feel it and the disappointment that goes along with it, they don’t forget it easily,” Shaver said. “And certainly I’m going to remind them.”
Shaver also said inexperience this past season in certain events led to some disappointments at the championship meet.
“We have some athletes that are back from last year that their inexperience is really, in my opinion, was the only thing that kept them from scoring at the [national championships],” Shaver said. “They didn’t handle the meet like you have to, and they learned from it.”
This season’s team is depending more on self-motivation and togetherness for success. Dardar said they are acting more like a team.
“Before, we had individual events where we did good and everybody notices, but this year we have a complete team,” Dardar said. “We have a better shot at the team title.”
Junior sprinter Nickiesha Wilson said teamwork will be key to winning a championship.
“Everyone just needs to come together and do what they need to do, and we’ll be successful in the end,” Wilson said. “We’re feeling really excited this season because we know we can win the national meet, both indoors and outdoors.”
Shaver praises the leadership of the team, as well as their enthusiasm.
“[When] the coaches don’t have to spend all their time trying to motivate … you’ve made huge strides toward a team championship because they’re making one another more accountable, and that’s what it takes,” Shaver said.
Shaver said almost all of LSU’s athletes will compete Saturday, with most only competing one event.
Fans expecting to see junior sprinting sensation Trindon Holliday this weekend will have to wait. Holliday will not begin practicing with the team until next week, and Shaver said he will not run in very many meets prior to the Southeastern Conference Indoor Championships.
This meet, which will begin Feb. 29 and extend until March 2, will be held in Fayetteville, Ark. at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center.
Each athlete has their own goal for the Purple Tiger Classic. Dardar said he is looking to simply “get the jitters out” during this first meet.
“I just want to have a better year myself, and do good in the open and at the same time carry the team and kind of lead them and guide them,” Dardar said.
Wilson, on the other hand, said she has a very specific goal.
“I want to run below 8.01 in the 60-meter hurdles,” Wilson said. “I’m sure all our teammates have their own objectives, so we’ll just see what will happen then.”