The LSU track and field teams are ready for one of the biggest meets of the season starting today.The Tigers and Lady Tigers head to Austin, Texas, for the esteemed 82nd annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays at Mike A. Myers Stadium. The meet started Wednesday, but LSU athletes begin their competition Thursday.”It’s one step up the ladder,” LSU coach Dennis Shaver said of the Relays. “It’s a little more complicated. It starts the main regular season for us.”Shaver made glowing remarks about the event as a whole.”I’ve been to it for the past 30 years,” Shaver said. “They do a great job. It’ll be sold out Friday and Saturday. I think they seat about 25,000. It’s a great venue for track and field.”The event has been kind to LSU in recent years. The men’s team has won the Clyde Littlefield, 4×100-meter relay title in Austin five straight years, a first in the history of the event. TCU previously held the record with four straight 4×100-meter relay wins from 1986-89.The current squad of seniors Jeremy Hicks, junior Will Coppage, sophomore Gabriel Mvumvure and senior Trindon Holliday, winners of a thrilling 4×100-meter race at the LSU Relays, will try to continue the tradition.”It’s hard to get the stick around the track successfully five straight years,” Shaver said. “We want the relays to be successful.”LSU sophomore sprinter Kenyanna Wilson, who has already qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regional in the 100-meter dash, said the Tigers and Lady Tigers have been looking forward to the Relays for a long time. “LSU has historically done well there,” Wilson said. “We plan on living up to that.”Even after a qualifying effort in Baton Rouge this past weekend, Wilson is motivated to be better in Austin.”I had a pretty good meet,” Wilson said. “It’s just building blocks, though.”The LSU Relays saw constant threats of rain throughout the weekend, something the Tigers hope to avoid at the Texas Relays.Forecasts call for clear skies are predicted in Austin for the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.”The conditions and the competition will be better,” Wilson said.Shaver said one of his main concerns for the weekend is with his team’s lack of experience in a meet the magnitude of the Texas Relays.”This group, we have an average number of people who haven’t been there,” Shaver said. “We have a lot of first timers. They see all the people, they see their friends. It makes for one to become distracted easily.”LSU nabbed two important relay titles at the LSU Relays — the men’s 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter relays — last weekend. The titles, paired with 12 Tigers qualifying for the NCAA Mideast Regional, encouraged Shaver.”The LSU Relays were good preparation for us,” Shaver said. “It ought to be a great Texas Relays.”——Contact Chris Branch at [email protected]