An Era
2008 Women’s NCAA Outdoor National Champions
OF EXCELLENCE
Since 1897, LSU Track & Field has built an illustrious history filled with some of the most memorable performers and achievements in the school’s colorful athletic heritage. From its quiet birth at the Tulane Spring Games to its seat atop collegiate track prominence, there are two factors that have remained consistent in the 123-year history of the program -- success through hard work and an unmatched will to win. H. Warren Taylor, Jr., LSU Track & Field historian, wrote it best when he said, “Tom Sherburne and Devall drew the distinction of being the first men of the Old War Skule to carry the purple and gold on the cinder path. That they failed to win in their events does not distract from their envious place in Tiger track history; for they were the forerunners of a host of sterling athletes that have established a record of consistent winning unsurpassed in the southland.” The rest is history.
NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
After winning five Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association conference championships between 1913-1922 and capturing three consecutive SIC titles, LSU Track & Field burst onto the national scene with an improbable upset of heavily-favored Southern
1933
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California to win the 1933 national championship at Soldier Field in Chicago. The LSU track team was led by the speed of Glenn “Slats” Hardin and the strength of Jack Torrance. Hardin set new world records in the 440-yard dash (47.1) and 220 low hurdles (22.9), while Torrance did the same in the shot put (52-10). Despite their record-breaking performances, the national title did not rest in the Tigers’ hands until the final event when Matt Gordy cleared 14 feet in the pole vault for the first time in his career to secure LSU’s first ever national championship in any sport. With the men already firmly established among the nation’s elite, the Lady Tigers captured their first national championship in 1987 in the program’s sixth season of existence. Led by NCAA individual champions Schowonda Williams, Sylvia Brydson and Sheila Echols, the LSU women swept both the indoor and outdoor national titles that season. They went on to repeat their outdoor success in 1988. The LSU Track & Field program then reached a pinnacle in 1989 and 1990 as the teams brought a combined five national championships to Baton Rouge. The Tigers and Lady Tigers each won backto-back NCAA Outdoor titles, while the women added an indoor title during the 1989 season. LSU’s success during the two-year span marked the first time in
1989
2021 TRACK & FIELD RECORD BOOK
1996
NCAA history that the same school won both the men’s and women’s crowns at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The Lady Tigers pulled off another sweep in 1991, again claiming NCAA team titles at both the indoor and outdoor national meets. One of the most memorable moments in LSU track lore came at the 1992 national championships in Austin, Texas. Trailing Florida entering the final day of competition, the Lady Tigers used a team effort to rally and defeat the Lady Gators, 87-81, for an unprecedented sixth-consecutive national crown. The Lady Tigers showed their dominance once again by winning two more national titles in 1993. They captured their fourth indoor national championship in seven years by winning the last event of the meet - the 4x400-meter relay - in a then school-record time of 3 minutes, 33.63 seconds. LSU dominated the competition to win its seventhconsecutive NCAA Outdoor championship. The Lady Tigers did so in record-breaking fashion, scoring a school record 93 points to outscore their nearest competitor by a remarkable 49 points. They made history again in 1996 by winning their 10th-straight outdoor national championship. Never before had a women’s team won at least 10-straight
1997
