National Collegiate Athletic Association

The NCAA News - News and Features

March 3, 1997

Division I

Texas poised to replace LSU at top

Event: 1997 Division I Women's Indoor Track Championships.

Overview: LSU has dominated for the past decade, winning seven of the last 10 titles, including the last four. But LSU apparently faces the biggest challenge yet to its recent reign. Texas, which has won three titles, appears ready to take the crown from the Tigers. If Texas wins, it will do so behind its 400-meter dash trio of Suziann Reid, Toya Brown and Donna Howard and its 1,600-meter relay team. Nicole Devonish, runner-up in the long jump in 1996, headlines the Longhorns' field-event squad. "Texas is going to be hard to catch, but we're going to give them a run for it," Florida track coach Tom Jones said. "It really depends on how the rest of the country sprints" ... Texas certainly isn't unchallenged. Florida, Southern Methodist, Georgetown and LSU all will be vying for crucial points and a shot at the crown ... Florida's strength is in the running events. LaKisha Jett (55- and 200-meter dashes), Nadia Graham (400-meter dash) and Becky Wells (800-meter and mile runs) lead the way ... Southern Methodist's bid relies heavily on field-event competitors, including Teri Steer (shot put) and Kajsa Bergquist (high jump) ... LSU, while not the favorite, certainly will be in the mix. Astia Walker (200-meter dash and 55-meter hurdles), Suzette Lee (triple jump), Marita Hunt (55-meter dash) and Silje Rasmussen (800-meter run and distance medley relay) head the Tigers' title defense. "People are looking past LSU, but they've always run well at the NCAA championships," Jones said. "I know they're young, but I wouldn't count them out."

Field: A maximum of 254 student-athletes will qualify for the championships.

Dates and site: March 7-8 at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Butler and USA Track and Field are cohosts.

Television coverage: The championships will be broadcast tape-delayed by ESPN at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern time) March 15.

Information/results: The fax-on-demand telephone number is 770/399-3060 (passcode 1915); request numbers are 1565 for dates/site/schedule, 5276 for qualifiers, 5277 for first-day results, 5278 for second-day results and 5279 for final results only. Championships results also will be available on the World Wide Web at www.ncaa.org. Results will be published in the March 17 issue of The NCAA News.

Championships note: Two-time indoor high-jump champion Amy Acuff of UCLA is vying to become the first Division I women's competitor to win three high-jump titles.