Mississippi State
SEC Championships (I)
Lady Bulldogs Conclude SEC Indoor Championship In Ninth Place
March 01, 2009 | Track & Field
LEXINGTON, Ky. ? Mississippi State women's track and field team finish the SEC Indoor Championship in ninth place, scoring 28 points to record the second most points scored in school history.
Also, their ninth place finish is the school's highest placing in the past five years.
Tennessee won the women's title with 111 points. LSU and Arkansas rounded out the top three with 105 and 97 points, respectively.
“We had a great meet overall,” MSU coach Al Schmidt said. “I think with the youth on this team we performed very well and beat some big-time performers finishing ahead of Alabama , Georgia and Vanderbilt.”
To complete a fantastic weekend in field events, junior Wendy Copeland matched a personal-best jump of 39 feet, 7 inches in the triple jump to take seventh place. Also, senior Trumesa Banks threw a personal best 41-01 in the shot put to finish in 19th place. Banks was followed closely by freshman Favian Cowards, who also threw a personal-best 40-03.50 to finish 20th.
“Wendy really came through for us this weekend,” Schmidt added. “She had a really big weekend in the jumps.”
On the track, senior standout Marrissa Harris completed her SEC Championship with a 5th place finish in the 60-meter hurdles final. Harris ran another NCAA provisionally qualifying time of 8.41 seconds in the event.
“Marrissa, as always, had a wonderful weekend for us,” Schmidt said. “She scored eight points alone which is really big.”
The distance medley-relay ran 11:52.57 for a sixth place finish. The team, which consisted of Harris and freshmen Dominique Lockhart, Chelsea Rae Smyth and Renee Masterson, bettered its season personal-best time by 14 seconds.
“We stuck Marrissa on the relay to give our freshman some confidence in the relay, and they really came through,” Schmidt said. “We went into the relay ranked ninth and finished with a really big performance to take sixth place.”
Also, the 4x400-meter relay team - junior LaQuinta Aaron, sophomore Diamond Marks, senior Priscilla Gaines and junior Crystal Wilson - ran a season-best time of 3:46.77 to finish 10th, and move into a third place ranking in MSU All-Time superlatives.
All Lady Bulldogs who finished in the Top 8 this weekend earned Indoor All-SEC honors.
The women travel to Jacksonville , Fla. , on March 7, for the Last Chance Meet to have one more shot at qualifying for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Women's Results
Women Shot Put- Individual Winner: Marian Kevhishvili, 58-10.25, Florida
MSU: 19, Trumesa Banks, 41-01; 20. Favian Cowards, 40-03.50
Women Triple Jump- Individual Winner: Shara Procter, 43-08, Florida
MSU: 7. Wendy Copeland, 39-07
Women 5,000-Meter Run- Individual Winner: Christine Kalmer, 16:20.06, Tennessee
MSU: 15. Simone Dimongue, 17:53.79
Women Distance Medley Relay- Individual Winner: Tennessee , 11:23.43
MSU: Dominique Lockhart, Marrissa Harris, Chelsea Rae Smyth, Renee Masterson, 11:52.57
Women 4x400-Meter Relay- Individual Winner: South Carolina , 3:33.50
MSU: LaQuinta Aaron, Diamond Marks, Priscilla Gaines, Crystal Wilson, 3:46.77
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