BATON ROUGE -- Senior sprinter Richard Thompson was not the only LSU representative to receive a national award by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association on Tuesday as head coach Dennis Shaver was also honored for LSU’s success in 2008.
Shaver was named the NCAA Women’s Outdoor Coach of the Year for the first time in his four-year tenure as LSU’s head coach after guiding the Lady Tigers to a national championship at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, this past weekend.
The race to be crowned this year’s national champion came down to the final event as both LSU and Arizona State lined up in the 4x400-meter relay tied at 59 points apiece.
A national television audience tuned in to CBS’s live coverage of the meet’s dramatic conclusion as the Lady Tigers crossed the finish line in second place with the Sun Devils following in fifth place to give LSU a narrow 67-63 victory over the defending national champions. LSU finished runner-up to Arizona State at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2007.
This marks the first time since 2004 that the Lady Tigers have won an NCAA team championship and the first time since 2003 that they have been crowned champions of the outdoor season.
LSU boasts the nation’s most dominant women’s program as the Lady Tigers have won a total of 25 NCAA team championships in school history, including 11 indoor and 14 outdoor national titles all-time. Texas is a distant second with 10 NCAA team championships combined.
Shaver has also received recognition as the SEC Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Coach of the Year after leading the LSU women to Southeastern Conference championships during both the indoor and outdoor seasons. The Lady Tigers have now won three consecutive SEC championships after also winning the outdoor conference title during the 2007 season.
The LSU track and field program has enjoyed a banner year under Shaver’s leadership as he has not only guided the Lady Tigers to three team championships, but his athletes have also won a total of seven NCAA event titles, 17 SEC event titles, 42 All-America selections and 46 All-SEC honors to rank among the national leaders during the 2008 season.