The second-ranked LSU track and field team returns to Bernie Moore Track and Field Stadium today and Saturday for the LSU Alumni Gold meet in preparation for its next meet in California during spring break.
The meet starts Friday at 4 p.m. with the heptathlon and decathlon. All other events are slated for Saturday, with field events beginning at 10:30 a.m and track events at 3:15 p.m. A sample of the teams participating in the meet include Southern Miss, Houston and Navy.
LSU coach Pat Henry said the meet comes at a good time for the Tigers with a tough meet last week and with its next two meets being extremely competitive.
“It’s the kind of meet you need in there,” Henry said. “We just came off a big one in the Texas Relays. Everybody needs to prepare to run pretty well again out at Mount SAC and Philadelphia the following two weeks.”
Henry said the home meet allows the coaching staff to experiment with different aspects of the team.
“We have a good home meet where lots of people will get on the track,” Henry said. “We’ll do a few different things with people — maybe not run their individual events — run some other events with them.”
LSU junior Lolo Jones said she hopes to prepare for next week’s Mount SAC Relay in Walnut, Calif. Jones comes off record-setting performances in last week’s Texas Relays. She was named the Southeastern Conference Female Track and Field Athlete of the Week after running a world leading time of 12.90 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.
“[I want] to work on some small things before we head out to Mount SAC,” Henry said. “That’s a really good meet. It’s going to be against professionals and everything.”
Home meets also give former LSU track and field athletes the chance to return to their home track. LSU alumni competing in this weekend’s meet include Walter Davis, Derrick Brew, Lueroy Colquhoun, Debbie Parris and Joyce Bates.
Bates trains and competes in meets at LSU to receive advice from the coaching staff. The former LSU All-American and Olympic hopeful won a national championship for the Lady Tigers in the 100-meter hurdles in 1999.
“I just feel comfortable when I’m around my coach,” Bates said. “My coach is here to see some of the things I should do and some of the things I shouldn’t do.”