LSU just about swept the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association outdoor South Central Regional awards Friday.
Terrance Laird won track Athlete of the Year, JuVaughn Harrison captured the field Athlete of the Year, head coach Dennis Shaver swept both women’s and men’s Coach of the Year honors, and Todd Lane was named the men’s assistant Coach of the Year.
Laird and Harrison were both named the SEC Outdoor Athletes of the Year in their respective categories on Wednesday and lead the charge for LSU’s national title hopes.
Laird becomes the fifth LSU track athlete to win this award, and Harrison becomes the third LSU winner of the field athlete award in the South Central region.
For Shaver, it marks the seventh and eighth regional coach of the year awards for him during his tenure as LSU head coach including his fourth in the last three seasons. Lane wins the award for the second straight outdoor season as he was also the award recipient during the 2019 outdoor season; the 2020 outdoor season was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Harrison equaled the second-best performer in collegiate history in the high jump at the SEC Outdoor Championships with his clearance of 7-8¾. Earlier in the season, Harrison soared a wind-legal 27-8¼ in the long jump to become the sixth-best performer in collegiate history.
Laird clocked the third-fastest performance in collegiate history in the 200 with his 19.81 effort at the Texas Relays in late March. He also added a wind-legal 19.82 at the SEC outdoor championships to equal the fourth-fastest all-time performance. It was at the SEC outdoor championships where Laird scored 22.5 points thanks to completing the 100-200 double and anchoring the winning 4×100 relay.
As women’s head coach, Shaver led the Tigers to the No. 1 ranking in the National TFRI each and every week this season. LSU has 19 women’s entries for the NCAA championships.
As the men’s coach, Shaver has guided the Tigers on the men’s side to the No. 1 billing in the National TFRI for nine of the 10 possible weeks. The Tigers’ men have 15 entries for the NCAA championships.
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