April 16, 2009
College Station - Texas A&M's next track and field journey takes them to Baton Rouge for the LSU Alumni Gold Invitational on Saturday at Bernie Moore Stadium. The Aggie women remain ranked No. 1 in the nation by the coaches association while the A&M men are currently ranked No. 2.
The Aggies have already traveled to home sites of traditional track and field powers in USC, Arizona State, Texas and UCLA with successful outings at each location, including being named the outstanding team of the Texas Relays. Now they visit the LSU Tigers, who are the defending women's NCAA Outdoor Champions, in their final home meet of the season.
LSU is currently No. 4 in the women's rankings and No. 6 in the men's rankings. Schools scheduled to compete at the Alumni Gold meet will also include Mississippi, Mississippi State, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana Tech. In addition the field will also include post collegiate athletes opening their outdoor season.
Action begins at 9 a.m. with field events and 11:30 a.m. with track events. Primary track finals will start at 3 p.m.
The Aggies and Tigers often square off in similar events at a meet - sprints, hurdles, relays and jumps. Last year both programs went 1-2 at the NCAA Championships in the 4 x 100 relay. The A&M women won its second consecutive NCAA title with a 42.59 to 42.85 victory over the Lady Tigers. In the men's race it was LSU holding a 38.42 to 38.58 edge over the Aggie men.
Heading into this weekend the A&M women lead the collegiate ranks in the 4 x 100 relay with a 42.91 clocking from its Texas Relays victory while LSU is third at 43.76. On the men's side the Aggies are currently second in the country with a 38.85 while LSU is third with a 39.10.
In the 4 x 400 relay the Lady Tigers lead the nation with a 3:31.81 while the A&M women are fifth with a 3:34.48. LSU men rank sixth with a 3:05.97 with the Aggie men 10th at 3:06.40.
Current individual collegiate leaders for Texas A&M include: Yasmine Regis (44-5 ½w - Triple Jump).
LSU athletes topping the collegiate list at this stage of the season include: Trindon Holliday (10.12 - 100), Rachel Laurent (14-1 ¼ - Pole Vault), Jeremy Hicks (26-1 ½ - Long Jump), and Walter Henning (235-4 - Hammer).
Reid and Regis will long jump at this meet while Beard will run the 400 for the second consecutive week and anchor the 4 x 400. Beard's outdoor debut at UCLA produced the collegiate leading time of 51.52 for 2009 and lowered the meet record she set at UCLA's meet a year ago.
USTFCCCA RANKINGS Texas A&M women maintained its hold on the No. 1 position for the third week outdoors in the United State Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association rankings. They are ranked ahead of Oregon, Virginia Tech, LSU, Arizona State, Tennessee, Penn State, USC, UCLA and Baylor among the top 10.
The Aggie men remain in the No. 2 position behind Oregon. They are both ranked ahead of Arkansas, Florida, Florida State, LSU, South Carolina, Texas, Baylor and Kentucky in the top 10.