Mississippi State
SEC Championships (O)
Harris Leads Heptathlon After Day One At SEC Championships
May 15, 2008 | Track & Field
AUBURN, Ala. ? For the third time this season, Mississippi State junior Marrissa Harris broke her own school record in the 100-meter hurdles, running a regional-qualifying 13.20 seconds during the heptathlon on the first day of competition at the 2008 Southeastern Conference Track & Field Championships. Harris finished the opening day atop the leaderboard with 3,502 points.
Rains throughout the Auburn area hampered the start of event. Events were scheduled to begin at 2:30 local time, but due to the conditions, Thursday's times were pushed back by more than two and a half hours.
Harris smashed her previous best of 13.44, set just weeks ago. She placed second in the high jump, leaping five feet, five and one quarter inches. She also took fourth in the shot put, narrowly missing her personal-best with a throw of 37-07 ?. In the day's final event, she ran a personal-best 24.04 in the 200-meter dash.
LaQuinta Aaron posted a strong opening day, finishing second behind Harris with 3,280 points. Aaron opened the competition with a fourth-place showing in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal-best and regional qualifying time of 13.77. Aaron took fifth in the high jump with a personal-best jump of 5-03 and sixth-place finish in the shot put. She completed her day running a personal-best 24.55 in the 200-meter dash.
Bridgett Rose and Dorothy Youmans ended the day ranked ninth and 10th, respectively. Youmans took eighth in the high jump and shot put, while Rose was third in the 100-meter hurdles and seventh in the 200-meter dash.
“Marrissa is on track to become an SEC champion,” said MSU head coach Al Schmidt. “There are three more events tomorrow, and these ladies have to finish it out. Great athletes have to perform at great times. Tomorrow's first event (the long jump) is a big deal. Both Marrissa and LaQuinta have responded to pressure so far. Dorothy has been hurt, but she and Bridgett are hanging in there.”
In the men's decathlon, Darryl Brady finished the day in seventh place, the highest amongst MState's three competitors. Brady won the high jump competition, clearing 6-04 ?. Brady barely missed his personal best in the event, crossing the line in 11.16. Senior Joseph Queen set a personal best in the 100-meter dash (11.43), as did Martin Lee (11.37). Lee is eighth after day one.
All three men also set personal records in the shot put competition. Lee had the highest mark at 43-04 ? (sixth), while Queen posted a mark of 40-09 ? and Brady at 37-08 ?. Lee also posted a personal best in the 400-meter dash (51.03), as did Brady (51.31).
“We're in a good position on the men's side,” Schmidt added. “Joseph is hurting from a groin injury, but Darryl and Martin are where we thought they'd be after the first day. Tomorrow should be a good day for them. Martin is a good hurdler and Darryl should perform well in the pole vault and javelin. We have a chance.”
Action resumes tomorrow afternoon at 1:30 p.m. from the Hutsell-Rosen Track on the University of Auburn campus.
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