Mississippi State
Clemson Invitational (I)
MState Women In Second Place After First Day Of Clemson Invitational
January 18, 2008 | Track & Field
CLEMSON, S.C. ? In their first outing of the season, the Mississippi State women's track team cruised to a second-place standing after the first day of competition at the Clemson Invitational in Clemson, S.C.
In her first collegiate meet, freshman Sarah Hammes captured her first individual crown in the 5000-meter run with a time of 17 minutes, 55.80 seconds. Newcomer Lydia Chebii finished third behind Hammes, crossing the line at 18:49.83.
The distance medley relay team of senior Annie Falor, freshmen Simone Domingue and Diamond Marks and junior Abbey Graham took third place, finishing with a time of 12:07.56.
The Lady Bulldogs also sent two individuals to the finals of the long jump with junior transfer Priscilla Gaines posting a mark of 18 feet,10 ? inches to tie in second place.Junior Marissa Harris finished behind Gaines, jumping 18-07 ?.
Junior sprinter Gabrielle Dillion ran a personal-best time of 7.53 to advance to the finals of the 60-meter dash that will take place at 10:15 CST tomorrow.
Harris, who also ran in the 60-meter hurdles, advanced to the finals of that competition with her time of 8.62. Teammate LaQuinta Aaron posted a time of 8.93 to advance along with Harris.
"We had a real good first day," said head coach Al Schmidt. "In her first collegiate race, Sarah Hammes won her first individual crown and we are happy. Priscilla (Gaines) also had a good first day. The DMR had a real good first day, as well. We had a personal-best out of Gabrielle Dillion. She definitely had a good race. We did really well today and hope that it carries over into tomorrow."
While MState is holding on to second place with 34 points behind host-Clemson, Alabama is in fourth place with 17 points and Auburn is in ninth place with four points.
Action from the Clemson Invitational continues tomorrow from the Clemson Indoor Track and Field Complex with the first women's event, the triple jump, taking place at 10:00 CST.
