BATON ROUGE - The LSU Track & Field program is sure to rely on an infusion of young talent if the Tigers and Lady Tigers are to compete for a national championship in 2012 as its Class of 2011 recruiting class has been ranked among the Top 10 nationally by Track & Field News in its December issue.
The Lady Tigers feature the nation's No. 6-ranked recruiting class as part of a team that is ready to defend SEC Indoor and SEC Outdoor team titles while competing for national championships in 2012.
The Tigers also signed one of the nation's Top 10 recruiting classes on the men's side as they are slated to compete this season with the No. 10-ranked class signed this past year.
The Lady Tigers will welcome the likes of throwerTori Bliss (Portage, Ind.), heptathlete Alex Gochenour (Missouri Valley, Iowa), hurdler Shanekia Hall(Kingston, Jamaica), middle distance star Samantha Levin (St. Louis, Mo.) and sprinters Montenae Roye-Speight and Kendra White of St. Louis.
Gochenour, the nation's No. 1-ranked multi-event recruit for the Class of 2011, is featured in this month's issue of Track & Field News as one of seven "Prize Recruits" set to compete as freshmen in 2012.
The Tigers also signed six prep standouts to National Letters of Intent as part of their 2011 signing class a year ago as thrower Rodney Brown (Navasota, Texas), middle distance runner Quincy Downing(Dayton, Ohio), pole vaulter Andreas Duplantis (Lafayette, La.), sprinter Aaron Ernest (New Orleans, La.), thrower Jeremy Tuttle (Sierra Vista, Ariz.) and high jumper William LeBlanc (Cecilia, La.) are set to compete.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers have wrapped up their fall training schedule and are putting finishing touches on the fall semester with final exams this week as they prepare for January for the start of the 2012 season at the Collegiate Invitational to be held Jan. 14 at Fair Park Arena in Birmingham, Ala.
Track & Field News Top 10 Recruiting Classes for 2011
Women
1. Stanford
2. Oregon
3. Southern California
4. Texas A&M
5. Clemson
6. LSU
7. Texas Tech
8. Florida
9. Florida State
10. Central Florida
Men
1. Texas
2. Oregon
3. Texas A&M
4. Arkansas
5. Harvard
6. Stanford
7. Florida
8. Virginia
9. Wisconsin
10. LSU