BATON ROUGE -- Freshmen standouts LaTavia Thomas and Katelyn Rodrigue lead a contingent of four LSU athletes who are set to compete at the 2007 USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships beginning Wednesday in Indianapolis.
This year’s meet will be held at the Michael A. Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium in conjunction with the 2007 AT&T USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships that begin Thursday.
Thomas is the favorite to win the USA Junior title in the 800-meter run as she enters the meet with the top seed time in the field by nearly two seconds at 2 minutes, 3.89 seconds, which she clocked in the finals at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships on May 26.
The Philadelphia native recently wrapped up her freshman season at LSU in which she won individual SEC titles in the 800 meters during both the indoor and outdoor seasons. In fact, she became the first athlete since Florida’s Tamieka Grizzle in 2000 to sweep SEC titles in the 800.
Thomas cemented her position as one of the top young middle distance runners in the country as she competed in the 800 meters at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships during the 2007 season. She also ran the third leg on the Lady Tigers’ 4x400-meter relay team that defended its outdoor national title from a year ago with a seasonal best time of 3:28.07.
Rodrigue enjoyed a record-setting freshman season for the Lady Tigers in 2007 as she shattered school records in the pole vault during both the indoor and outdoor seasons, while also becoming the first vaulter in program history to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The New Orleans native recorded a new indoor school record clearance of 12 feet, 10 ¾ inches to finish fourth at the SEC Indoor Championships in March. In addition, Rodrigue automatically qualified for the national meet during the outdoor season with a runner-up finish at the NCAA Mideast Regional after clearing a record height of 13-3 ¾.
A pair of LSU signees for the Class of 2007 will also compete at this year’s USA Junior Outdoor Track and Field Championships as Kenyanna Wilson of Peoria, Ariz., is set to line up in the 100 and 200, while Chris Ward of Kissimmee, Fla., is slated to double in the 200 and 400.
Wilson is ranked among the nation’s top performers in the event with a lifetime best of 11.37 seconds. She was named a 2006 American Track and Field Second-Team All-American after making an appearance at the IAAF World Junior Championships a season ago.
Ward is among the contenders in the 400 meters as he enters the meet with the fourth-fastest time in the field at 46.81 recorded during his senior season at Evans High School. He was the national runner-up in the 400 at the 2006 USA Junior Outdoor Championships after clocking a seasonal best time of 46.97 a year ago.