It all comes down to this weekend for the 16 LSU entrants in the 2009 NCAA Indoor Championships at College Station, Texas.”I’ve always found that getting into the meet is one of the hardest things,” said LSU coach Dennis Shaver. “Once you get there if you just do what you did to get there, more than likely you’re going to get a point.”The meet starts this morning at 10 a.m. and ends Saturday night.Nine members of the No. 3 ranked Lady Tigers will participate in 10 events while the No. 6 Tigers will participate in six different events.”The people who deserve to be there are there,” Shaver said.Junior sprinter Samantha Henry is the lone Lady Tiger to be running in two individual events. She will compete in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes for the second straight year at the NCAA Indoor Championships.”I’m stronger and faster,” Henry said. “I’ve already done the work. Now it’s time for me to just perform where it counts.”Junior LaTavia Thomas has a chance to defend her title in the 800-meter run, ranking third nationally in the event this season with a time of 2 minutes, 4.27 seconds.Junior sprinter Trindon Holliday enters the meet No. 2 nationally in the 60-meter dash after running a seasonal-best time of 6.56 seconds.Holliday finished second at last season’s NCAA Indoor Championships with a personal-best time of 6.54 seconds, finishing behind former teammate and Olympic silver medalist Richard Thompson.”Anything’s beatable when you line up beside each other,” Holliday said. “It’s just going to be who has the bigger heart and the will to win.”Sophomore weight thrower Walter Henning has won every meet he has participated in as a LSU Tiger and has already broken the school record in the weight throw.”It’s nice getting the confidence up,” said Henning. “What I’m worried about there is having people come up and throw 76 feet, but that just means I’m going to throw 76 [feet], 6 [inches].”—-Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]
Track and Field: LSU brings 16 entrants to NCAAs
March 11, 2009