THE SEASON FAR PART 2

In part one we discussed the Florida Men and both men and women of Texas A&M. Let's continue our discussion of the best teams thus far with the Oregon women, Florida State men and LSU men and women.



OREGON WOMEN

A very well rounded team Vin Lanana has put together at Oregon. Since his arrival his goal was to wake up the women's program, he has done just that with a program strong in the sprints, jumps, distance and throwing events. Headlining the Lady Ducks are sprinters Amber Purvis and Keshia Baker. Purvis is one of the nation's fastest short sprinters with times of 11.38 and 23.00. Baker has a 51 second personal best. Senior Zoe Buckman and freshman star Jordan Hasay help carry the flag in the distance events. Buckman is currently ranked number 2 in the nation in the women's mile with a time of 4:12.80. The Ducks have heptathlon Brianne Theisen leading the nation with a score of 5942, look for the champion to defend her title.

FLORIDA STATE MEN

The Seminoles right now are taking a back seat in their home state after having dominated for 3-4 years. However the Seminoles still have a strong program to be proud of. The Seminoles had a outside chance of winning the title however that took a serious hit when it was announced that senior sprinter Charles Clark injured his quad and would be out for the season. Although they maybe out of the title hunt the Seminoles still have a lot of talent. Maurice Mitchell, Kevin Borlee and Brandon Byram are three talented young sprinters that will aide in the future success of the Seminoles.


LSU WOMEN

The Lady Tigers of LSU have the greatest collegiate track and field history. At one point the Tigers were able to generate 11 consecutive national titles from 1987-1997. They were able to generate three more titles in 2000, 2003 and 2008. All of the Lady Tigers national title teams except for two in 1987 and 2008 were coached by Pat Henry who is now the head coach of Texas A&M. Dennis Shaver has certainly done a fine job as Henry's replacement, Shaver winning his own national title in 2008 and will look to do it again this season. The majority of Shaver's team is young, however they are talented enough to compete with the Texas A&M Aggies and have enough certain seniors to lead them in the right direction. Seniors Samantha Henry and LaTavia Thomas led the team in the respected events. Henry leads the team in the 100 meter dash with the fourth fastest time in the nation at 11.18, Henry is third in the nation in the 200 with 22.94. LaTavia Thomas leads the nation in the women's 800 with a time of 2:01.40 while fellow senior Kayann Thompson is 2nd with 2:03.54 and junior Brittany Hall is third with 2:03.76. What's missing from the great LSU team is what the old LSU teams had plenty of, hurdlers. Shaver was able to recruit high school star Jasmine Stowers but more hurdlers are needed.


LSU MEN

The one thing I can say about Dennis Shaver is that he has definitely made the men more competitive. Henry did do a great job with the men's program winning three national titles 1989, 1990 and 2002 however they were always overshadowed by the women's program. Under Shaver it seems the team is on equal ground.

The Tigers have a very well rounded team similar to that of the Lady Ducks. The sprints as usual are loaded even after losing Rynell Parson. There has not been a word on Parson since he ran that sub 6.70 early in the indoor season. However Jerel Hill currently leads the team in 100 meter dash with a time of 10.34. The Tigers true sprint depth comes from the 400 were they have four guys that can go under 47 seconds starting with senior Armanti Hayes, Caleb Williams, Ade Alleyne-Forte and Robert Simmons. In the 800 they are equally successful with Jamal James, Sadiki White and freshman Sadiki White. Richard Jones is currently ranked number 2 in the national with a time of 1:46.90. Talented sophomore hurdler Barrent Nugent is a huge factor in LSU title hopes, his season best of 13.58 is currently ranked 4th in the nation. Freshman star Demar Forbes and Zedric Thomas currently pave the way for the Tigers in the jumps, Forbes with a team leading 25-10.75 has one of the top long jump marks in the nation. Forbes and Thomas should make a big splash this championship season.