Coming off another championship season, the expectations for both the LSU men’s and women’s track and field teams are at an all-time high.
Last season, coach Pat Henry earned his 24th and 25th national championships as the Lady Tigers won both the 2003 indoor and outdoor national titles, with the outdoor title won on the final day of competition with an impressive 43-point performance to edge out Texas.
Henry said the team’s approach this year will be simple – improve upon last season’s success.
“What it is going to take to be successful and to get yourself to be as good as you can be is just staying healthy, training hard, doing the things you are supposed to do and if it comes together as a team effort to be successful to win a national championship then that comes about by doing all the other things right,” Henry said. “The goal is never set at winning a national championship, the goal is on the individual to get better.”
The goal may not be another championship, but all the pieces are in place for a title run as 23 of the 24 athletes who competed in the NCAA indoor and outdoor meets a season ago return.
“If every individual stays healthy and does the things they are supposed to do, then I think team-wise we have an opportunity to have a good team,” Henry said.
Senior sprinter Robert Parham knows all too well how injuries can plague a season. Last year Parham and fellow sprinters Bennie Brazell and Pete Coley suffered hamstring injuries that kept them out for portions of the season.
Parham said injuries played a significant role in the men finishing fourth at both the outdoor meet and indoor national meets.
Even though Parham is not disappointed with last season’s performances, he said he knows the team is capable of more.
“We always produce when the time comes,” Parham said of the men’s squad. “Coach Henry knows what to do to get us ready for that national meet and we just need to put things together.”
Parham, Brazell, Coley and sophomore Kelly Willie anchored the 4×400 team that took home a national championship at the NCAA outdoor meet, posting the second fastest time in school history (3:02.01), and will be relied upon again if the Tigers hope to be successful.
All-American jumpers John Moffitt and LeJuan Simon will also be major contributors at the national level.
On the women’s side All-Americans Lolo Jones, Muna Lee, Nadia Davy, Monique Hall and Stephanie Durst look to defend their national titles from a year ago.
Jones, last season’s indoor 60-meter hurdles national champion, said no championship expectations should be placed on this team just yet.
“Track is a team sport, but it is an individual sport as well,” Jones said. “The team championship will come if everyone succeeds in their individual area.”
This weekend both squads look to continue on last season’s success as they host the Purple Tiger Invitational Saturday in the Carl Maddox Field House.