BATON ROUGE -- LSU\'s track and field team returns home to the Carl Maddox Fieldhouse this week to host the LSU Combined Events and the Bayou Bengal Invitational.
The Combined Events, which includes competition in the women\'s pentathlon and men\'s heptathlon will run Thursday and Friday afternoons, beginning at 3 p.m. and 1 p.m., respectively. The Bayou Bengal Invitational will be held Friday with competition in the field events starting at 3 p.m. and the running events at 6 p.m.
This week will be an important one for LSU\'s multi-event athletes as it\'s their first of just two chances to qualify for the NCAA Championships.
\"This meet is real important for the combined events,\" said LSU head coach Dennis Shaver. \"These athletes only have two opportunities to get a qualifying score for the NCAA Championships -- here and at the SEC meet -- so we are hoping thing go well and we have some athletes advance.\"
LSU will have five athletes shooting for the NCAA provisional and automatic standards, as Tigers Darion Powell and Edwin Billot and Lady Tigers Kathy Coleman, Megan Akre and Julie Bertrand are all scheduled to compete.
Powell and Billot, both senior transfers from Washington State and McNeese State, respectively, each have NCAA experience in the multi-events and will be looking for a ticket back to the national meet.
Coleman and Akre will also have an eye on the NCAA meet. Coleman, a sophomore transfer from Southeast Missouri State, had tremendous success in the short sprints and jumps at SEMS and looks to translate that into multi-event competition. Akre will be seeking the provisional standard after just falling short of the goal a year ago.
At the Bayou Bengal Invitational, LSU will concentrate its efforts primarily on the jumps and short sprint events.
\"The Fieldhouse is an excellent place for jumpers and it\'s another opportunity for our athletes to get on the long and triple jump runways and improve on their marks,\" said Shaver.
Athletes to watch include All-American Tina Harris in the long jump and Nedra Gross in the high jump.
On the track, both the men\'s and women\'s 60-meter dash should be one of the top races of the evening.
On the men\'s side Tiger speedsters Xavier Carter, Kelly Willie and Trindon Holliday highlight the field, while Lady Tigers Kelly Baptiste and Brooklynn Morris will be the competition to beat in the women\'s race.
Following the LSU Combined Events and the Bayou Bengal Invitational the Tigers and Lady Tigers will travel to New York City for the sixth annual New Balance Collegiate Invitational, Feb. 3-4.