LOUISIANA State University (LSU) track and field head coach Dennis Shaver on Tuesday announced the signing of Guyanese sprinter Keliza Smith to the university’s women’s programme.
Smith, a native of West Bank Demerara, will join the Tigers as a junior this spring, moving from Barton Community College where she established herself as a leading figure in the junior college circuit.
During her two-year tenure at Barton, Smith secured 15 USTFCCCA First Team All-American honors and won the NJCAA 60-metre national title.
Her personal bests include a time of 11.37 seconds in the 100 metres—a Guyanese national under-20 record—as well as 7.28s in the 60m, 23.08s in the 200m, and 52.91s in the 400m.
On the international stage, Smith recently earned a bronze medal in the 100m at the Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, marking Guyana’s first podium finish at the event. She also secured bronze in the 200m at the Junior Pan American Games in Paraguay.
At LSU, Smith will join fellow Guyanese athletes Malachi Austin and Athaleyha Hinckson, further expanding the programme’s international contingent.