BATON ROUGE -- The championship season is only three weeks away and the LSU track and field teams have solidified their position among the national favorites as both the Tigers and Lady Tigers have claimed the No. 1 spot in the latest power ranking released Wednesday. The weekly power ranking released by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association is based on the seasonal best performances of collegiate athletes nationwide and their ranking on the NCAA men’s and women’s performance lists. The Lady Tigers are the nation’s top-ranked team for the second straight week, while the Tigers have vaulted into the No. 1 spot for the first time this season after being ranked No. 2 a week ago. The squads added nine new NCAA regional qualifying marks at the LSU Alumni Gold this past weekend and boast a total of 58 individual qualifying marks and four qualified relay teams with only the Penn Relays left on the regular season schedule. The 2008 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships will be held in Fayetteville, Ark., from May 30-31. LSU was impressive in its performance at the LSU Alumni Gold on Saturday as the Lady Tigers walked away from the competition with three NCAA leading times to their credit. The Lady Tigers set a new Bernie Moore Track Stadium record in the 4x100-meter relay as the foursome of Brooklynn Morris, Samantha Henry, Juanita Broaddus and Kelly Baptiste finished with a winning time of 42.84 seconds. Their time erased the 6-year-old record of 43.12 set by the South Carolina Gamecocks at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships. The women also lowered their already established NCAA leading time in the 4x400-meter relay as the squad of Morris, Nickiesha Wilson, Broaddus and Deonna Lawrence crossed the finish line in 3 minutes, 29.28 seconds, improving upon its seasonal best of 3:29.72 entering the meet. In addition, NCAA indoor champion LaTavia Thomas clocked a new personal best and an NCAA leading time of 2:03.22 in her first 800-meter race of the outdoor season. The Tigers were not without their share of impressive performances over the weekend as senior Elkana Kosgei, senior Reuben Twijukye and sophomore Jamaal James finished the meet among the nation’s Top 12 performers in the 800 meters. The trio finished 1-2-3 in the event as Kosgei led the group with the fourth-fastest time in the nation at 1:47.42. Twijukye followed closely behind with the sixth-fastest time in the collegiate ranks at 1:48.13, while James was a close third with the 12th-fastest time in the nation at 1:48.98). The Tigers and Lady Tigers are set to wrap up the regular season this weekend as they have made the trip to Philadelphia to compete in the 114th running of the Penn Relays beginning today at historic Franklin Field. They will break for three weeks before kicking off the championship season May 15-18 with the 2008 SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Auburn, Ala. USTFCCCA Top 25 MEN WOMEN
1. LSU, 285.01
2. Florida State, 268.80
3. Texas A&M, 257.09
4. Florida, 226.14
5. Texas, 197.09
6. Auburn, 189.50
7. UCLA, 183.55
8. Arizona State, 171.74
9. Baylor, 160.54
10. Tennessee, 160.28
11. Southern California, 151.97
12. Arkansas, 141.57
13. TCU, 136.87
14. UTEP, 125.81
15. Liberty, 125.56
16. Colorado, 124.63
17. BYU, 112.36
18. Clemson, 111.16
19. Oregon, 105.28
20. Texas Tech, 103.16
21. Kentucky, 100.69
22. Washington State, 100.10
23. Wisconsin, 96.33
24. Mississippi State, 94.06
25. Georgia, 94.03
1. LSU, 344.42
2. Arizona State, 311.38
3. Texas A&M, 304.58
4. Virginia Tech, 212.59
5. Southern California, 191.46
6. Texas Tech, 172.85
7. Florida, 171.63
8. Miami (Fla.) 158.97
9. UTEP, 151.49
10. Minnesota, 151.41
11. Texas, 131.82
12. UCLA, 131.21
13. Penn State, 129.69
14. Oregon, 126.76
15. Auburn, 122.00
16. Stanford, 121.00
17. Florida State, 120.34
18. TCU, 116.85
19. Arkansas, 116.55
20. Michigan, 111.19
21. Tennessee, 107.21
22. Baylor, 105.22
23. Arizona, 95.69
24. Ole Miss, 94.69
25. Virginia, 93.78