Lady Tigers Track & Field Holds Nation\'s Top Spot

BATON ROUGE -- The LSU women’s track and field team continues to build momentum as it races toward the postseason as it is the nation’s top-ranked team in the latest U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coach Association Top 25 power ranking released Wednesday.

The Lady Tigers have been ranked No. 1 in the nation throughout the indoor season as they are among the national leaders with four automatic qualifiers and nine provisional qualifiers for the NCAA Indoor Championships in March.

Following the Lady Tigers in this week’s top five of the power ranking are No. 2 Tennessee, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Arkansas and No. 5 Oregon.

Despite falling two spots to No. 12 in the latest men’s power ranking, the Tigers have also gotten off to a fast start to the indoor season as they have one automatic qualifier and five provisional qualifiers for the NCAA Championships.

The Tennessee Volunteers top the USTFCCCA Top 25 men’s power ranking for the first time in 2008 as they overtake Arkansas for the top spot this week. The Razorbacks drop two spots to No. 3, while No. 2 Florida, No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 BYU round out the top five.

LSU is already ahead of last year’s pace as they have combined for five automatic qualifiers and 14 provisional qualifiers to the NCAA meet through three weeks of the indoor season. The squads combined for one automatic qualifier and 14 provisional qualifiers through three meets in 2007.

The Tigers and Lady Tigers will be on the road this weekend as they make their annual trip to New York to compete in the prestigious New Balance Collegiate Invitational at The Armory Track and Field Center beginning Friday. LSU will be one of more than 100 universities at the meet as it is arguably the strongest field it will face during the regular season.

USTFCCCA Top 25

WOMEN
1. LSU, 171.94
2. Tennessee, 129.32
3. Texas A&M, 112.59
4. Arkansas, 104.84
5. Oregon, 95.34
6. Michigan, 90.79
7. Baylor, 82.67
8. Florida, 73.40
9. Virginia Tech, 70.15
10. Arizona State, 66.85
11. Penn State, 57.89
12. South Carolina, 57.07
13. Arizona, 53.35
14. Ole Miss, 53.24
15. Kentucky, 51.09
16. Nebraska, 47.71
17. Kansas State, 45.37
18. Minnesota, 41.85
19. Southern Illinois, 40.84
20. Kansas, 39.96
21. Texas, 39.11
22. Georgia Tech, 38.54
23. Washington, 38.08
24. Purdue, 37.79
25. Texas Christian, 34.71

MEN
1. Tennessee, 95.85
2. Florida, 91.32
3. Arkansas, 88.82
4. UCLA, 87.18
5. BYU, 85.43
6. Boise State, 80.06
7. Oklahoma, 76.10
8. Oregon, 75.34
9. Texas Tech, 70.11
10. Kentucky, 65.05
11. Clemson, 64.46
12. LSU, 62.75
13. Baylor, 60.27
14. Auburn, 59.31
15. Nebraska, 58.38
16. Arizona State, 58.17
17. Liberty, 57.86
18. Arizona, 50.93
19. Northern Iowa, 43.33
20. Michigan, 42.45
21. Texas A&M, 41.98
22. Idaho, 40.15
23. Oral Roberts, 39.67
24. Cal State-Northridge, 37.00
25. Princeton, 35.60