Track & Field Begins Title Run at SEC's

 BATON ROUGE - LSU enters the race for Southeastern Conference supremacy this weekend as many of the nation's premier programs converge on the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., for the 2010 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships beginning Friday at the University of Arkansas.

While this year's meet gets underway on Friday with the men's heptathlon and women's pentathlon, LSU will not compete for the first time until Saturday with the start of the open track and field events.

Live results from the 2010 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships will be available on LSUsports.net, while fans can follow up-to-the-minute and behind-the-scenes coverage for the Tigers and Lady Tigers by following @LSUTrackField on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/lsutrackfield.

The meet will also broadcast to a nationwide audience on ESPNU as part of the network's coverage of the SEC. Coverage of the meet is set to air on a tape-delay basis on Thursday, March 11, at 8 p.m. CT.

"There is no question that the Southeastern Conference is the deepest and most competitive conference in our sport. We are in for a dogfight this weekend and must compete from start to finish if we hope to come away with a team championship on Sunday," said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. "I don't remember this championship being as wide open as it is this year on both the men's and women's sides.

"I'm sure it's going to be very much like the competitive environment we will see at the NCAA meet. It's important that we compete with that kind of intensity from the first event on Saturday."

The SEC Championships feature many of the nation's premier programs each season, and that will surely be the case this weekend as seven men's teams and five women's teams enter the weekend ranked in the latest Top 25 ranking published by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The No. 5-ranked Lady Tigers have won a league-best 11 SEC Indoor titles all-time, including their latest in 2008, and must fight off the likes of No. 3 Florida, No.4  Tennessee, No. 6 Arkansas and No. 9 Auburn to return to the top of the winner's podium this weekend after finishing runner-up a season ago.

The No. 3-ranked Tigers are looking to improve upon their sixth-place finish in the team standings a year ago and compete for their first team title at the SEC Indoor Championships since 1990.

This is perhaps the deepest field of any conference championship in the country as LSU will be joined by six other teams ranked among the nation's Top 25, including No. 4 Florida, No. 6 Arkansas, No. 16 Auburn, No. 21 Alabama, No. 23 Kentucky and No. 25 Georgia.

"Performing in the championship meets is what we work so hard for in training day in and day out. That's the standard by which this program is measured and how our athletes will be remembered," Shaver said. "This is always an exciting meet for our athletes because many of the events will be like lining up and competing in an NCAA final. That's something that we look forward to each season. We fully expect that this meet will come down to the very last event for the men and the women."

LSU will compete with its share of firepower in Fayetteville this weekend as four athletes are the reigning SEC Indoor champions in their respective specialty events.

Senior Samantha Henry became the third Lady Tiger in program history to sweep SEC Indoor titles in the 60 meters and 200 meters a year ago with her performance at the Nutter Field House in Lexington, Ky. In fact, Henry also captured the SEC Outdoor title in the 200-meter dash in 2009 and is a favorite to take the title in both sprinting events this weekend at the Randal Tyson Track Center.

Sophomore All-American Rachel Laurent is the defending champion in the pole vault and enters the meet ranked No. 1 in the SEC again this season with a personal-best mark of 14-3 ¼.

In addition, junior Brittani Carter is a favorite to win the high jump crown this year as she is currently No. 1 in the conference with a top mark of 6-0 ¾. The Lady Tigers also feature a trio of No. 2-ranked performers in the league this season, including senior LaTavia Thomas in the 800 meters (2:04.55), junior Melissa Ogbourne in the triple jump (43-5) and their 4x400-meter relay team (3:34.11).

For the Tigers, junior Walter Henning not only enters the meet with the SEC's top performance in the 35-pound weight throw, but he also boasts the No. 1 mark in the NCAA this year at 76-6 ½. Henning became the first LSU Tiger to win an SEC crown in the weight throw with his winning throw of 74-5 ½ in 2009.

The Tigers also feature the defending SEC Indoor champion in the 400-meter dash as sophomore standout Robert Simmons looks to retain the title he won as a true freshman a year ago.

Like Henning, fellow junior Zedric Thomas enters the meet as the No. 1 performer in the SEC and NCAA in the long jump with a personal-best effort of 26-3 this season. Thomas is also a title favorite in the triple jump with the No. 2 performance in the league this season at 52-2 ¾.

Other Tigers who enter this year's SEC Indoor meet as the league's No. 1-ranked performer in their event include junior Richard Jones in the 800-meter run (1:48.41) and sophomore Barrett Nugent in the 60-meter hurdles (7.71). Senior Jamaal James follows closely behind Jones in the 800 meters with the second fastest time in the SEC this season at 1:48.73, while the Tigers' 4x400 relay also ranks No. 2 at 3:07.22.

Any LSU athlete who has yet to qualify for the NCAA Indoor meet following this weekend's action has a final opportunity to do so next week as the Tigers and Lady Tigers return to the Carl Maddox Field House on March 5 to play host to the LSU NCAA Indoor Qualifier.

In addition to this weekend's SEC Indoor Championships, the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., will also host to the 2010 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 12-13.