LSU travels to compete in the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships on March 1-2 in Gainesville, Fla., this weekend.
LSU head coach Pat Henry said the SEC teams possess some of the best athletes in the country. He believes the SEC championships are sometimes more challenging than the NCAA championships.
“The SEC is by far the toughest conference in the country,” Henry said. “We won the national meet last year and didn’t win the SEC.”
Nine SEC men’s teams are ranked in the Trackwire 25, the NCAA’s resource for rankings. LSU currently ranks No. 3 and will face No. 1 Arkansas and No. 2 South Carolina at the meet.
The meet features four of the nation’s top six long jumpers. The Tigers’ John Moffit and LeJuan Simon currently rank second and sixth nationally in the event with jumps of 7.89 and 7.81 meters respectively. The two LSU standouts face off against Arkansas’ Ramon Washington and Richard Smith, currently ranked fourth and fifth in the NCAA with jumps of 7.87 and 7.82 meters.
Six SEC women’s squads are ranked in the Trackwire 25. The LSU women top the list at No. 1 and face off against No. 4 Florida and No. 5 South Carolina.
LSU All-American Muna Lee will attempt to defend SEC Indoor titles in the 60-meter and 200-meter dash. The junior won the 200 in both her freshman and sophomore year and won the 60 at last year’s SEC Indoor meet. She currently holds the best time in the NCAA for the 60 at 7.20 seconds and the second best time in the 200 at 23.18 seconds.
Henry said most teams on the national level fail to emphasize the importance of the conference meets. Henry wants the Tigers to put their best foot forward in next week’s competition.
“The SEC [meet] is one that you want to be successful at,” Henry said. “We want to line up next week and do the best we can, and what happens is what happens.”