Coming off one of the most successful seasons in college sports history, the expectations for both the LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams are higher than ever.
Last season, head coach Pat Henry led the Lady Tigers to a national indoor championship and concluded the year with a men’s outdoor title. This season he is expected to add to his collection of 23 national championships as Trackwire 25 — the NCAA’s track and field polling source — ranks both teams No. 1 in the country at the start of the indoor season.
“I think expectations are needed to be successful in life,” Henry said. “We have expectations here, and when you put that purple uniform on, something great is expected to happen.”
This weekend the women continue defending their indoor title, and the men continue working toward their first indoor national title as they host the Purple Tiger Invitational 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Carl Maddox Field House.
Henry said staying healthy is one of the more important aspects of early season meets. LSU athletes only will compete in their best event and will not compete in multiple events to ensure their health.
Last weekend, LSU competed in the Southeastern Conference West Indoor Challenge and finished second to Arkansas in both men’s and women’s competition, but the Tigers managed to hold the top ranking in both polls despite the second-place finish.
“We kind of look at the season like a ladder,” Henry said. “This was just the first step of that ladder. What is important is how you start the season and how you progress throughout the year.”
The Tigers and Lady Tigers finished behind Arkansas in points, but Henry said LSU had more qualifiers for nationals than did the Razorbacks. Junior All-American Muna Lee (200-meter dash) automatically qualified for nationals along with SEC Athlete of the Week LeJuan Simon (triple jump) and the men’s 4×400-meter relay team of Pete Coley, Marlon Greensword, Bennie Brazell and Kelly Willie. The men qualified provisionally in five other events and the women in three.
Trackwire also mentioned numerous LSU athletes in its Dandy Dozen, a weekly power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event. The ranking included Lee, who grabbed the top spot in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes, followed by Stephanie Durst, who was ranked second in the 200. Trackwire ranked Nicole Toney first in the triple jump, while Simon grabbed the second spot in the men’s triple jump. John Moffit ranks first in the long jump, while Willie and Robert Parham rank first and second in the 200 respectively. The 4×400-meter relay team is No. 1 in the country and boasts the top time in the NCAA – 3 minutes, 6.54 seconds.
“I don’t think we’ve ever had a 4×400 team run this fast this early in the season,” Henry said. “And we never have run this fast in the women’s 200 this early either.”