Mississippi State
SEC Championships (O)
Hubbard Claims 400-Meter Dash Title On Final Day Of SEC Championships
May 18, 2008 | Track & Field
AUBURN, Ala. ? Mississippi State senior Jamil Hubbard ran 45.24 seconds to win the men's 400-meter dash finals on the final day of the 2008 Southeastern Conference Track and Field Championships. Hubbard's time is a personal best, regional qualifying mark, a Hutsell-Rosen Track record and the fourth fastest time in school history. Hubbard becomes the second Bulldog to win the event at the conference meet, following Jude Monye in 1995.
Freshman O'Neal Wilder took second in the event, running a regional qualifying and personal best 45.54 seconds. His mark ranks fifth on the all-time list.
"We came up short in a few events, but it was a tremendous day for Jamil Hubbard," said MSU head coach Al Schmidt. "We had some great performances today. Right now, O'Neal Wilder is the top junior in the world in the 400-meter dash. The future is really bright for our women, too. We're going into the regional meet with good, strong quality on both sides."
In addition to Hubbard and Wilder, eight other Bulldogs scored on the final day along with both relays posting top eight finishes. John Bailey took seventh in the 400, running a regional time and personal best of 46.44. In the 800-meter run, Golden Coachman (1:48.26) and Chris Woods (1:48.71) posted regional qualifying marks to finish fourth and sixth, respectively.
The Bulldogs' 4x100-meter relay team of Kendall May, Bailey, Hubbard and Wilder ran a regional qualifying 39.42 to finish third. State's 4x400-meter relay squad of Woods, Hubbard, Emmanuel Mayers, and Wilder tallied a season-best and regional mark of 3:05.26.
All three Bulldogs competing in the 100-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles posted regional qualifying marks. In the 100, May ran 10.37 to take eight, while Mayers (51.35, seventh and a personal best) and Kyle Roberts (51.99, ninth) competed in the 400-meter hurdles. Bailey also ran in the 200-meter dash, where he finished eighth.
MSU had seven runners in the men's 5000-meter final. Of those seven, six set personal best. MSU's top finisher in the event was Ashenafi Arega (14:31.42), who finished 17th. Also setting personal bests were Robert Scribner, Adam Lenz, Brandon Smith, Pad Judd and Matthew Cameron.
Allen Cassell cleared six feet, eight and three quarter inches to take third in the high jump. Darryl Brady also scored in the event, jumping 6-06 ? to finish eighth. Overall, State's men scored 56.20 points to finish eighth, their best finish since 2005. Arkansas won with 131.50 points, followed by LSU (122), Tennessee (97.50), Florida (80), Auburn (78.20), Kentucky (72) and South Carolina (57) in the top seven.
Alabama (46.20) took ninth with Georgia (43.40) and Mississippi (35) closing out the field.
State's women posted their best time of the season in the 4x100-meter relay, running a regional-qualifying 45.16. LaQuinta Aaron, Marrissa Harris, Bridgett Rose and Priscilla Gaines also posted the third fastest time in school history. Harris closed out her weekend scoring for MState in the 100-meter hurdles final. Harris ran a regional qualifying 13.28 to finish fourth.
State's women finished 11th with 28 points. LSU won the event with 157.50 points, followed by Florida (128), Arkansas (86.50), Tennessee (84) and Kentucky (83.50) in the top five. Mississippi (72) placed sixth with Auburn (65), South Carolina (42.50), Alabama (33) and Georgia (32) rounding out the top 10. Vanderbilt finished 12th with seven points.
For only the third time in school history, MSU posted a winner on both sides of the competition (2008 ? Jamil Hubbard (400-meter dash) and Marrissa Harris (heptathlon); 2003 ? Marquis Davis (100-meter dash) and Tiffany McWilliams (800 and 1500-meter runs); and 1989 ? Festus Igbinoghene (triple jump) and Falilatu Ogunkoya (400-meter dash).
Next up for those individuals that have posted regional qualifying marks are the 2008 NCAA Mideast Regional Championships. The two day event runs May 30-31 at John McDonnell Field on the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.
Players Mentioned
