Mississippi State
Mississippi Open (O)
MSU Track And Field Collects 10 NCAA Regional Qualifying Marks At Mississippi Open
May 03, 2008 | Track & Field
OXFORD, Miss. ? Freshman O'Neal Wilder and senior Jamil Hubbard collected four of Mississippi State's 10 NCAA regional qualifying marks at the Mississippi Open on Saturday, May 3, in Oxford, Miss. The event was held at the Ole Miss Track and Field Complex on the campus of the University of Mississippi.
Wilder and Hubbard went head-to-head in the 200- and 400-meter dashes and both came out with regional marks. In the 200-meter dash, Hubbard captured second place with a time of 20.97 seconds, while Wilder took fifth place with a time of 21.23. The sprint duo snatched first and second place from the rest of the competition in the 400-meter dash with Wilder securing the first place title with a personal-best time of 46.35 and Hubbard netting second place with a time of 46.37.
In the 100-meter dash, sophomore Kendall May rounded up his third regional mark of the season with a second-place finish in 10.40. Seniors Golden Coachman and Chris Woods finished third and fourth, respectively in the 800-meter run, running the race in 1:49.29 and 1:49.94, respectively to pick up two more regional qualifying marks.
Senior Kyle Roberts set a new season-best time and seized his second regional mark in the 400-meter hurdles, carding a time of 52.02 to take third place in the event. Freshman Emanuel Mayers finished sixth with a time of 52.70.
On the women's side, junior Priscilla Gaines leaped a personal-best 20 feet, one and a half inches, to notch third place in the long jump. With her jump, Gaines is now tied for third all-time in the long jump at MSU. Junior Marrissa Harris garnered fourth-place honors in the long jump, as well, with her jump of 19-11 en route to grabbing her regional mark.
“We had a really good day,” said MSU Head Coach Al Schmidt. “Priscilla (Gaines) had a personal best in the 200 and long jump and improved her regional ranking in the long jump. O'Neal Wilder qualified in the 400 meters and won it, so that was a plus. Jamil (Hubbard) was second, but O'Neal (Wilder) qualifying was a plus. Kyle Roberts improved his time and moved up in the 400 hurdles and a key part to doing well at nationals is doing well in the 400 hurdles. It was also really, really windy so we had a tough time in the circular races. It was overall a really good day for everybody.”
In addition to their 10 NCAA regional qualifying marks, both squads also combined to set 15 new personal-best marks in their respective events.
The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will take next week off to focus on preparing for the SEC Championships, set to take place on May 15-18 in Auburn, Ala. on the campus of Auburn University. The event will take place at the Hutsell-Rosen Track.
Players Mentioned
