The University of Arkansas men’s team and the LSU women’s team will compete in the 2004 NCAA Division I Track & Field Championships as the defending champions this week at Mike A. Myers Stadium at the University of Texas. After bad weather canceled most of Wednesday’s first day of action, the competition resumed on Thursday and will continue through Saturday.  

A total of 1,123 athletes have qualified for the meet. Most of them advanced through regional competition, a format adopted by the NCAA last year. Athletes and fans were evacuated from the stadium three times on Wednesday due to lightning strikes close by and a continuous heavy downpour that soaked the track surface.

A 43-point final day performance by the LSU women’s track & field team brought head coach Pat Henry his 25th NCAA title last year in Sacramento as LSU defeated Texas by 14 points to complete the sweep of the women's 2003 NCAA indoor and outdoor track crowns. The Lady Tiger's NCAA Outdoor title marked their 13th in program history and the first since the 2000 season. LSU has won both the women's NCAA Indoor and Outdoor crowns during the same season nine times in the program's history, and after winning the 2004 NCAA Indoor title earlier this year, the Lady Tigers would have achieved the double for the 10th time with a team victory in Austin. They last accomplished the feat in 1997.

LSU finished with 64 points last year at Sacramento, followed by Texas with 50 and South Carolina with 47. Florida was fourth, followed by Nebraska and Indiana.