The LSU track and field teams began practice in the fall and kicked off the 2016 season on Jan. 8 at the Purple Tiger Invitational in the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers focused on improving each week leading to the NCAA Division I Indoor track and field Championships.The time has finally come, and LSU hopes its hard work and training pays off.
The men enter the national meet ranked fifth, while the Lady Tigers are No. 10 in the U.S. track and field and Cross Country Coaches Association’s Top 25 rankings
“I like to describe the SEC meet and the NCAA meet as two big beasts,” coach Dennis Shaver said. “The kind of mental frame of mind that they were in the Southeastern Conference Championship is exactly the kind of mind that they need to have at the NCAA meet. I don’t think they have to do any changes.”
Seven qualifiers from each team, including six individuals and a relay team from both the men’s and women’s teams, will represent LSU in the meet at the Birmingham Crossplex in Birmingham, Alabama, this weekend.
SEC Champion and sophomore sprinter Mikiah Brisco will enter the competition as the first Lady Tiger in history of the SEC Indoor Championships, and the first athlete since 1992, to enter in two events: the 60-meter dash and 60-meter hurdles. She ranks second in the nation in the 60-meter final with a time of 7.18 seconds. She boasts a personal-best time of 8.05 seconds in the hurdles, entering at No. 5 in the NCAA.
Brisco said the support from her team helps her stay focused on what she has been training to do.
“They were actually talking about going to Birmingham to watch us run,” Brisco said. “Every day we come out here, and we know we have a goal in mind. I’m a little nervous, but that’s normal to be a little nervous before a big track meet. I’m excited that I’m able to go to nationals and I’m excited to just compete and see what I’m going to do.”
SEC Indoor Silver Medalist and sophomore sprinter Daeshon Gordon will join Brisco in the 60-meter hurdles. She ranks seventh with a seasonal and personal-best time of 8.10 seconds.
SEC Indoor Champion and junior distance runner Morgan Schuetz is No. 11 in the 800-meter event with a season and indoor personal-best time of 2:04.05.
All-SEC junior sprinter Jada Martin enters in fourth in the 200 meters with a time of 22.92 seconds, and reigning NCAA Indoor Bronze Medalist junior jumper Nataliyah Friar will return in the No. 16 spot in the women’s long jump with a season-best jump of 20 feet, 9 inches.
Freshman Hollie Parker, junior Travia Jones, sophomore Hannah Deworth and Schuetz will compete for the Lady Tigers on the distance medley relay team. The team holds the No. 12 spot with a school-record time of 11:05.34.
Junior sprinter Michael Cherry is second in the men’s 400-meter dash with a personal-best time of 45.61 seconds, a time he achieved in the preliminary races at the SEC Indoor Championships.
“I’m actually excited to go out here and make this weekend count because this is the most important week of the season right here,” Cherry said. “I’m always upset. I never feel like I do good. Last week I actually PR’d in the prelims, and I walked off trying to figure out what I could have done to run faster. I still feel like I wasn’t satisfied at that moment.”
Senior sprinter Fitzroy Dunkley received All-SEC honors in the men’s 400-meter dash to finish seventh nationally with a time of 46.04 seconds.
Cherry and Dunkley will run with senior Cyril Grayson and junior LaMar Bruton on the men’s 4×400-meter relay team. They are ranked fourth with a time of 3:04.46.
SEC Indoor Champion junior Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake ranks second nationally in the men’s 200 meter event with a personal-best of 20.51 seconds.
Junior thrower Johnnie Jackson and freshman sprinter Donte Jackson travel to Birmingham to make their first national career appearance. Donte is tied for No. 10 in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.63 seconds. Johnnie is No. 14 in the men’s weight throw event with a best of 70 feet, 5 ¾ inches.
Athletes have different coping methods when it comes to “the big day.” Junior hurdler Jordan Moore likes to keep things as normal as possible while still having fun, he said.
“I think about it day and night, like when I’m in my room, but I really don’t stress about it,” Moore said. “I know what I’m going to do. I honestly just have fun everyday. I’m the same regular person. The glitz and glamor don’t really get to me.”
Moore will take the track with the No. 1 time in the NCAA, with a personal best of 7.60 seconds, in the men’s 60-meter hurdles, achieved at the SEC Indoor Championships, when he was named the SEC Champion.
For many athletes, the chance to compete excites them. For others, it produces nerves. For some, it’s both. Moore is confident he’ll do well this weekend.
“I don’t get nervous,” Moore said.