No race cars will be present when the LSU men’s and women’s track teams travel to Nampa, Idaho for the United Heritage Invitational on Saturday, but the meet will have an “Indy 500” feel to it.
LSU will compete on Jacksons Track at the Idaho Sports Center, a 200-meter long banked track, which will help the Tigers run faster said LSU coach Pat Henry.
“It’s like the Indianapolis 500,” Henry said. “If the turn wasn’t banked, those cars couldn’t go around the track very fast.”
While LSU does not practice on a banked track, Henry said he believes a banked track can benefit the Tigers.
“It gives us the opportunity to do some things and put ourselves in a qualifying position in a number of events,” Henry said.
The invitational will include Stanford, UCLA, BYU and Baylor, all of whom are in the Trackwire Top 25 in the women’s poll.
Stanford, Baylor, UCLA and BYU all have ranked teams in the men’s poll as well. Boise State, California-Davis, Arizona State and California round out the rest of the teams competing at the invitational.
With a number of top-ranked teams competing, Henry said he is looking forward to the challenge.
“When you run against great competition, it gives you better opportunity to compete well,” Henry said.
Junior Muna Lee will look to pick up where she left off at the Bayou Bengal Invitational. Lee qualified in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.29 seconds.
However, Lee said she is unsure of how she will do this weekend. She said she believes running on a banked track is an advantage for her.
“I don’t know how I’m going to do,” Lee said. “But I’m real good running on bank.”
Assistant Coach Dennis Shaver said he is pleased with competing on a banked track.
“It’s a great opportunity for our kids to get on a track that’s similar to what we run on at the NCAA meets,” Shaver said. “There’s just a little bit of a different running style required to be real successful.”
Also coming off qualifying times are RaNysha LeBlanc and Britney Littlejohn, who placed first and second in the 60-meter hurdles.
In the field events, Mallory McDonald will look to match her throw of 62-feet-00.25-inches from last week’s invitational.
Also coming off successful weekends are Nicole Toney and Ayanna Alexander, who finished first and second in the triple jumps at 19-07 and 19-02, respectively.
In the men’s events, senior John Moffitt will look to match his record-breaking jump of 26-11.
Moffitt broke former Tiger Walter Davis’ record of 26-09 last weekend. Just a half-inch shy of the Maddox Fieldhouse record set by Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, Moffit became an automatic NCAA qualifier with the jump.
“That is probably the best jump in the world right now,” Henry said. “I don’t know of one that’s better. It showed a tremendous effort.”
Junior sprinter Bennie Brazell said he is looking forward to the meet.
“I just want to see how I’m going to do,” Brazell said. “I’ve been out here every day working hard trying to get better, so we’ll see where I’m at.”
Brazell also said he has confidence in the men’s team overall.
“I think the men are going to do great,” Brazell said. “We’re going to get [qualifying runners] this week.”
Fellow sprinter Gerald Taylor is coming off a win in the men’s 60-meter dash with a time of 6.86, along with All-American Robert Parham, who won the 200-meter dash at 21.80.