When freshman sprinter Kelly Baptiste decided to run track at LSU, she heard about the 15 outdoor national championships the Lady Tigers garnered under former coach Pat Henry.
The Trinidad and Tobago native met former LSU women’s sprinter Muna Lee at the Olympics in Athens, Greece last summer. She stood amazed at Lee’s running style and wanted the tutoring of the Lady Tigers’ coaches.
“Then I saw coach [Dennis] Shaver, and he told me they were interested,” Baptiste said. “I kept hearing a lot of stuff about all the national titles. And that really encouraged me to come here.”
Baptiste arrived on campus in early January and started training. She competed at the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse during the indoor season. But Saturday’s LSU Alumni Gold meet will mark her first home outdoor competition at Bernie Moore Track Stadium.
Baptiste reached NCAA regional-qualifying marks the past two weeks in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. But she started much slower and hopes to show her improved running style to the home crowd this weekend.
“When I came here in January, I had a lot of catching up to do,” Baptiste said. “I was pretty serious into what I was doing. And listening to coach Shaver helped me be where I am right now.”
While Baptiste has improved over the course of the outdoor season, the Lady Tigers have steadily declined. For the first time in almost two decades, the women’s team goes into a meet without a national ranking.
“It’s probably the first time in 20 years that they’ve dropped out,” Shaver said. “They just haven’t done anything at this point as a team that merits a national ranking.”
For Baptiste, the fall in the rankings challenges her to run harder along with the rest of her teammates.
“I don’t think it’s a disappointment,” Baptiste said. “I think the women’s team has a lot of talent but it’s just not showing. Once we just put in some good individual performances along with the relays, we’ll jump in the rankings.”
The Lady Tigers are young but possess great talent, Shaver said.
“I think they’re capable of being in the top 10 at the NCAA championships,” Shaver said. “A whole number of people are knocking at the door that are going to be possible finalists at the NCAA meet.
“It’s rare that freshmen are scoring at NCAA championship meets. We’ve got a few that are going to be an exception to that.”
But both the No. 4-ranked men’s team and the Lady Tigers have only two more meets to qualify — this weekend and at the SEC Championships in May.
This weekend’s meet, in particular, features LSU’s former athletes against the current class. Former Lady Tigers sprinter Lolo Jones said she looks forward to the meet.
“It’s a great opportunity to run fast,” Jones said of the event from a college athlete’s perspective. “I looked at it as an experience to have fun with the situation. But now they’re going to be gunning for me. I just want to have a good, clean race [this weekend].”
Former Olympians Derrick Brew and Alleyne Fancique will also compete Saturday along with 10 to 12 other alumni. Jones said she hopes the meet inspires the current team to compete better heading into the NCAA championships.
“The girls are coming along,” she said. “They lack a lot of seniority. It’s not the end of the world. Every team has a down season. If some people put some things together, they could end up with a really good season. They’re going to be a force to reckon with in the future.”