COLLEGE STATION – A showdown featuring a pair of premier national track and field powers will be on display in a second annual dual meet between Texas A&M and LSU this weekend at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium. The 15-event meet will be contested in a three-hour format on Saturday starting at 11 a.m. 

A pair of 2011 NCAA champions, Kimberlyn Duncan in the 200 and Barrett Nugent in the 110 hurdles, highlight a LSU Tiger squad coached by Dennis Shaver. Last year the LSU women placed third at both indoor and outdoor NCAA Championship meets in 2011 while the LSU men finished fourth indoors and outdoors in both national championship meets.

“LSU has a fine track team and it will be a tough competition,” Aggie head coach Pat Henry noted. “We’ll have to do everything right to beat them on both sides. I’m looking forward to it and I think our team is too.”

Prior to Texas A&M winning the NCAA Outdoor championship double for the third consecutive year last June, the Aggie men finished second at the 2011 NCAA Indoor while the A&M women placed fifth as each repeated the finish they achieved in 2010.

This is the fourth year A&M has held an indoor dual meet and the second consecutive year that the Aggies will host the Tigers. Last season A&M claimed a double victory over LSU as the Aggie men won, 84-75, while the A&M women claimed a 91-67 victory. Form charts for this year’s dual meet predict a very close outcome with either school capable of winning.

“I think our team looks forward to the dual meet, because it gives an opportunity for everyone to be involved and try to score points and win as a team,” said Henry, who won 27 NCAA titles as head coach at LSU and currently has six NCAA titles over the past three seasons with the Aggies.

LSU’s Duncan, a junior sprinter, won both NCAA 200 titles last season, winning in 22.78 seconds undercover and then claiming a low-altitude collegiate record of 22.24 outdoors. Duncan, also the NCAA 100-meter runner-up with an 11.09, was one of three finalists named for The Bowerman Award.

Nugent, a senior hurdler, claimed the 2011 NCAA Outdoor title over 110 hurdles in a windy 13.28 after finishing second in the 60 hurdles at the NCAA Indoor.

Joining Duncan in the 60 and 200 for LSU is Takeia Pinckney and Toshika Sylvester, while the 400 will be covered by Rebecca Alexander (53.03), Cassandra Tate (53.27) and Siedda Herbert. Those three sprint events will provide key points and likely hold the answer to who will win the dual on the women’s side.

Texas A&M will counter with a crew of Dominique Duncan (7.34, 23.03), Ashley Collier (7.40, 23.40), LaKeidra Stewart and Chandrell Stephens in the 60 and 200 while in the 400 the Aggies have Ibukun Mayungbe (52.63), Olivia Ekpone (54.82) and Kamaria Brown (52.99 outdoor). 

In the 60 hurdles an exciting race between A&M’s Donique’ Flemings (8.38) and LSU’s Jasmin Stowers (8.12) will likely be one of many closely contested events. Flemings posted her personal best this past week in challenging Baylor’s Tiffani McReynolds, the NCAA Indoor runner-up in 2011, who won the final with Flemings in 8.35.

The men’s 60 hurdles offers Aggie Wayne Davis II an opportunity to improve his indoor best of 7.75 when he faces Nugent. Davis II earned All-America honors last summer with a sixth-place finish in the NCAA 110 hurdles that provided Texas A&M key points heading into the decisive 4 x 400.

LSU set four meet records a year ago and return a pair of athletes in Nugent and Damar Forbes, who produced a leap of 27 feet in the long jump as the NCAA Outdoor runner-up last season.

The Aggies hold 13 meet records amid the four years they’ve hosted a dual meet, but only one individual mark is held by a current athlete – Katherine Devlin in the women’s 5,000. Devlin will compete in the mile this weekend.

Texas A&M will benefit from the indoor debut of Henry Lelei, a cross country All-American this past fall when he placed ninth in the NCAA Cross Country Championship, as he contests the mile. Another set of new faces for the Aggies are Ameer Webb in the 60 and 200 along with Ricky Babineaux in the 400 and Deon Lendore in the men’s 4 x 400.

Webb teams up with Prezel Hardy, Jr. and Michael Bryan in the 60 and 200 while Babineaux will compete in the 400 with Joey Roberts.

Michael Preble (1:47.27), who set the A&M indoor 800 meter record last season along with the 600 yard mark and was part of school record efforts in the 4 x 400, 4 x 800 and sprint medley relays, will lead a talented 800 crew that includes Oscar Ramirez (1:50.20) and James Bonn (1:51.97).

The women’s mile will feature recent school record holder Natosha Rogers (4:50.06) facing off against LSU’s Charlene Lipsey (4:50.13) and Laura Carleton (4:51.94). Meanwhile Laura Asimakis, who broke the school record in the pole vault last week at 13-8.5, will have a challenge with LSU’s Rachel Laurent (14-3.5).

In the 800, Aggie Aliese Hyde (2:08.48) will contend with Samantha Levin of LSU (2:06.85) as A&M puts six runners in the race, including Hillary Hagan (2:11.00) and Tiffany Singleton.

“This is one of those meets where you start to find out about your team balance,” Henry said. “Such as how your jumpers are going to do or how the sprinters will do. It will be a great challenge across the board for all of our event areas.”