LSU looking for a sweep at NCAA championships

The Tigers have 28 individuals and four relay teams in the meet.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A sprint showdown could determine whether Walter Dix-led Florida State can hold off LSU for a third consecutive NCAA men’s track championship.

And the women’s team race looks to be a three-way fight between defending champion Arizona State, Texas A&M — and LSU.

With 28 individuals and all four relay teams in the meet, the Tigers of Baton Rouge could be headed for a championship sweep.

“We’re healthy on both sides,” LSU coach Dennis Shaver said, “so it should be a great run for our men’s and women’s teams.”

Never mind the weather.

The Des Moines River is lapping at its banks downtown, and the Miami team moved out of its hotel because of flooding concerns.

Drake Stadium, hosting the NCAA meet for the first time in 38 years, is on high ground. But there is a chance of severe thunderstorms today, when the four-day meet featuring nearly 1,200 athletes gets under way on the powder-blue track.

For the best of the U.S. athletes here, such as Dix and Arizona State heptathlete Jaquelyn Johnson, the NCAAs are a tuneup for the Olympic trials that begin June 27 in Eugene, Ore.

“If we get a little break in the weather here,” Florida State coach Bob Braman said, “we might see some really, really great performances on this kind of track with these kinds of athletes, particularly in an Olympic year. You’ve got so many great athletes who have a lot more business to do after they leave the NCAA championships.”

Dix surprised just about everyone, including his coach, by deciding to return for his senior season after winning the 100 and 200, then anchoring the victorious 400-meter relay at last year’s NCAA meet. He is just rounding into shape after recovering from a strained hamstring.

“This is my third week completely healthy, probably the second and a half-week completely healthy, I’d have to say,” Dix said over the weekend.

He must deal with LSU’s one-two sprint punch of Richard Thompson and Trindon Holliday. Thompson, from Trinidad, is having a standout senior season.

Only two sprinters, Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay, have a 100 time this year that’s faster Thompson’s best of 9.93 seconds. Then there’s Clemson’s Travis Padgett, who has run 9.96. Holliday’s top time this season is 10.05.

Dix showed he was back at last week’s regional championships, when he won the 200 in 20.10. Only three have run faster this year — fellow Americans Gay, Wallace Spearmon and 400 specialist LaShawn Merritt.

Among the women, Johnson will be seeking her fourth heptathlon title in five years. She sat out the 2005 season to play on the Arizona State basketball team.

“Without question we wouldn’t have achieved what we’ve done without her,” said Arizona State coach Greg Kraft, whose men’s and women’s teams swept this year’s NCAA indoor titles.

The multitalented athlete from Yuma, Ariz., had a personal best 6,307 points at the Pac-10 championships. She scored 331‚Ñ2 points for her team.

“She was second in the hurdles, second in the long jump, third in the javelin, tied for seventh in the high jump and won the heptathlon,” Kraft said.

She’s competing only in the heptathlon at the NCAAs, then will do it again at the Olympic trials.