Menage a Texas - A&M, LSU, and Arkansas

Jan 15, 2013 by Mitch Kastoff

When this meet opened, Texas A&M had a monogamous competition with their fellow Lone Star rival, the University of the Texas. Soon after, A&M moved out of Texas and began to face Louisiana State University at their indoor dual meet. Now, it’s evolved into a three state threesome.

Let's get it on.

A&M will once again square off against LSU this weekend, but there will be an added guest to spice up the meet. The University of Arkansas will join in on what will be a precursor to two bigger meets this indoor season.

As if these teams didn’t see enough of each other, the three will meet again at the SEC Indoor Championships and presumably the NCAA Indoor Championships.

In a time where athletes scratch from events or simply don’t show up at all (looking at you, Atsedu Tesfaye), it’s refreshing to see some good ol’ head-to-head competition. As Track Super Fan Jesse Squire puts it, “Collegiate duel meets, once the backbone of the collegiate track and field season... are now enjoying a bit of a renaissance.”

While the Triangular is great for the fans, the results hold higher implications for these teams. If you’re trying to win a conference title or even a national title, how is a team’s psyche affected if they can’t win a tri-meet?

The spirit of competition is centerpiece of the Triangular. Rather than have one team reluctantly travel to a meet time and time again only to get its doors blown off, these three teams have been battling for the team and 4x400m title for the last year.

	NCAA Indoor (4x4)	NCAA Indoor (Place)	NCAA Outdoor (4x4)	NCAA Outdoor (Place)
A&M	DQ	8th (22 points)	5th (3:01.68)	3rd (40 points)
LSU	3rd (3:05.80)	5th (27 points)	3rd (3:01.21)	2nd (48 points)
Arkansas	1st (3:04.92)	2nd (47 points)	6th (3:03.90)	8th (26 points)

The three teams are so close that one has to think that a win at the Triangular will be important going forward.

It’s still early, but all three teams have already made 4x400m marks that rank among the top ten in NCAA. Texas A&M leads the nation with their 3:06.25 at the Texas A&M 12 Team Invitational, LSU is fifth with 3:09.81, and Arkansas rounds out the top ten with a 3:12.42 performance. If I were a betting man, which I am, I’m going to bet that those times will significantly drop come March.

Flotrack will be in College Station to see who steps up their early season game and who will have to watch the footage of them losing for months until the SEC championship.

Heat Sheets for the meet.