Mississippi State
NCAA Mideast Region Prelims (O)
MSU Opens NCAAs With Phenomenal Day; Harris Breaks 100-Meter Hurdles Record Again
May 30, 2008 | Track & Field
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ? Mississippi State's opening day at the 2008 Mideast Track and Field Regional saw seven of 10 individuals competing in preliminaries and both relay squads advance to Saturday's finals. Those finals take place tomorrow at John McDonnell Field on the University of Arkansas campus.
"We had an absolute fabulous day," said MSU head coach Al Schmidt. "I am more than ecstatic. Top to bottom, this is the best regional we've ever had. Our coaches have done a great job with these athletes and Mississippi State should be proud. Tomorrow, we need to stand up to our finishes and qualify for the NCAA meet."
In the women's long jump, junior Marrissa Harris leaped a personal-best 21-00 ? to take fourth in the event. The mark is the second best in school history. Wendy Copeland finished eighth, jumping a personal-best 20-05 ?, the school's third-best mark.
In the first appearance at the regional meet by a Lady Bulldog relay team, LaQuinta Aaron, Harris, Bridgett Rose and Priscilla Gaines posted the eighth-best time in the 4x100-meter relay, running 45.64 seconds to qualify for Saturday's 5 p.m. CT final.
Kendall May, O'Neal Wilder, Jamil Hubbard and Emmanuel Mayers ran an event-best 39.75 in the 4x100-meter relay to win the first heat. By virtue of the heat win and top qualifying time, the team advances to Saturday's final scheduled for a 5:10 p.m. CT start.
Harris advanced to the 100-meter hurdles final at 5:45 p.m. CT Saturday by breaking her school record in the event. Harris crossed the line second in her heat, running 13.09 seconds. It was the sixth fastest qualifying time overall. In the men's 100-meter dash, May ran 10.24 (w+) to finish eighth and advance to the Saturday 6:10 p.m. final.
In the men's 400-meter dash, Wilder won the second heat of the event, running 46.31. Senior Jamil Hubbard won the fourth heat with the event's second fastest time of 46.29. That event final is set for Saturday at 6:20 p.m. CT.
Both Golden Coachman (1:48.54) and Chris Woods (1:48.78) advanced to the 6:30 p.m. CT Saturday final. Coachman won the event's first heat and finished second overall, while Woods crossed the line second in heat two and posted the fifth fastest time. Mayers took second in the third heat of the men's 400-meter hurdles, finishing eighth overall with a time of 51.47.
In the women's 100-meter hurdles preliminaries, Aaron ran an illegal wind-aided 13.66 to finish 22nd, while Rose ran 13.77 to finish 25th overall. Kyle Roberts ran a season-best 51.59 to finish ninth in the preliminaries of the men's 400-meter dash. Gaines finished 14th in the long jump, leaping 19-11 ?.
The top five finishers in each event and top three relay teams advance to the 2008 NCAA Track and Field National Championships, June 11-14, in Des Moines, Iowa.
Players Mentioned
