The LSU track and field team will continue their championship season today at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Nampa, Idaho.
Coming off the stress of midterm exams and the Southeastern Conference Championship meet, LSU track coach Dennis Shaver said nerves will not be an issue for his team.
“This is, for all intents and purposes, the second-most important meet to us [behind the NCAA Outdoor Championships],” Shaver said. “I think we need to go into the meet and just do what we did to get there.”
Shaver said the women’s race will be between four teams: LSU, Oregon, Arkansas and Clemson. The Lady Tigers have 12 scoring opportunities in the meet, matching tournament favorite and top-ranked Oregon.
Shaver pointed to the 400-meter dash and the 4×400-meter relay as important events in which the Lady Tigers will need to score points in order to succeed. He estimated that it would take roughly 45 points for a championship.
Shaver singled out junior Charlene Lipsey as the crucial element in the women’s 800-meter race, in a field he described as the toughest of the meet. Lipsey claimed her first SEC title earlier this season and has gone unbeaten in the indoor season.
Junior Kimberlyn Duncan will try to win her 14th-straight 200-meter-dash title against collegiate competition and defend her NCAA indoor crown.
Shaver called the men’s team’s race a two-team chase between Florida and Arkansas, with the Tigers in a close battle for third, looking to trump their fourth-place finish from last season.
“We’re fortunate that we’re going to be one of the teams battling for a trophy on both the men’s and women’s side,” Shaver said.
Senior Kyron Blaise and junior Damar Forbes will both compete in the triple jump and long jump, providing two opportunities for the Tigers to “double up” on points.
Shaver said the duo will not have to do anything extraordinary to place in both events, but added that “doubling up” would aid in the Tigers’ success.
“[Forbes and Blaise] don’t have to do something any more than what they did to get there,” Shaver said. “They just need to go out and perform.”
Senior Barrett Nugent will look to overcome a disappointing SEC Championship meet, where he clipped the first hurdle in the 60-meter final and did not finish the race.
Shaver said although there are some men who are not predicted to score, athletes like Blaise and Forbes, along with junior Caleb Williams in the 400-meter dash, will be crucial in the Tigers’ quest for a title.
 
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