LSU women’s track and field has bolstered its sprinting depth by adding sprinter Keliza Smith from West Bank Demerara, Georgetown, Guyana, to its roster. Head Coach Dennis Shaver announced the signing this past Tuesday (6), bringing in an athlete with six Guyanese national titles and a lot of room to develop.
Smith joins the Tigers this spring as a junior after competing for two seasons at Barton Community College in Kansas. At Barton, she won the NJCAA indoor 60-meter championship and earned 15 USTFCCCA First Team All-American honors across multiple events.
The 22-year-old sprinter holds personal records of 7.28 seconds in the 60 meters, 11.37 in the 100 meters, 23.08 in the indoor 200 meters, and 52.91 in the outdoor 400 meters. Her 100-meter lifetime best, recorded in Leonora in November 2022 with a 1.4 m/s tailwind, stands as the Guyanese national U20 record.
Smith’s 2025 performances show continued improvement. She recorded her indoor 200-meter best of 23.08 seconds in Lubbock, Texas, in March. Her outdoor marks include 23.21 seconds in the 200 meters at Waco, Texas, in April, and 52.91 seconds in the 400 meters at Tuscaloosa, Alabama, the same month. Her indoor 60-meter best came at the same Lubbock meet where she set her 200-meter mark.
On the international scene, Smith finished third in the 200m at the 2025 Pan American Junior Games in Paraguay and was a member of the Guyana U23 mixed 4x400m relay team that won a bronze medal behind Brazil and Cuba.
The Guyanese athlete’s versatility extends beyond the track events. Smith also competed in the long jump early in her career, recording 5.86 meters in Leonora in 2020.
For more information about the signing, click here
