INDIANPOLIS — The NCAA recently announced the details for the 2009 Pinnacle of Fitness challenge program which will energize middle school age children in nine cities across the United States and allow them to complete for a chance to win the national title in St. Louis during the week of the 2009 NCAA Women’s Final Four.LSU is one of nine sites for the competition and will host the first Middle School Challenge on Thursday night at halftime of the Lady Tigers’ game with Mississippi State that will tipoff at 7 p.m. CST in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Capitol Middle School and Woodlawn Middle School will be involved in the competition.LSU will host additional Middle School Challenges on Feb. 1, March 22 and March 24. The Feb. 1 competition will take place at halftime of the LSU and Auburn women’s basketball game with Southeast Middle School and Westdale Middle School facing off. Game time is 2 p.m. CST.The March competitions will be held in conjunction with the NCAA Division I Women’s Basketball First and Second Round competition that will also be hosted by LSU on March 22 and 24. For tickets, please call the LSU Athletics Ticket Office at (225) 578-2184 or go online at www.LSUsports.net.The Pinnacle of Fitness challenge is an NCAA Division I women’s basketball initiative of healthy living and education that will challenge and improve individuals and their communities. The 2009 Pinnacle of Fitness challenge is expected to involve 100 middle schools in nine selected cities with 74,000 students participating.”The Pinnacle of Fitness challenge is an important and fun imitative that will connect the great game of basketball with youth in communities across the country to help in the promotion of improved physical fitness,” said Sue Donohoe, NCAA vice president of Division I Women’s Basketball. “We have enjoyed the challenge of beginning the program in nine markets in 2009 and hope to expand the reach of the program in the future.”The cornerstone of the program is the Middle School Challenge, which will educate and challenge students to improve their level of physical fitness through leading active lives, goal setting and developing life skills.