Mississippi State
LSU Invitational (I)
MSU's Copeland Provisionally Qualifies For NCAA Championships
January 22, 2010 | Track & Field
BATON ROUGE, La. - Mississippi State's Wendy Copeland shined in her first indoor meet of the season at the Purple Tiger Invitational in Baton Rouge, La., Friday. The senior Tupelo, Miss., native jumped 20 feet, 2.25 inches to win second-place. Copeland's jump gave her NCAA Indoor provisional qualifying standards, and tied her for second all-time in MSU history.
"I couldn't be happier with Wendy's performance today," assistant coach Bryan Fetzer said. "She had four jumps over her life time best today, and when you consistently better your best that means better things are to come."
On the track, four Lady Bulldogs qualified for the 60-meter hurdles final. Keisha Wallace was State's lead qualifier in 8.71 seconds. However, it was senior LaQuinta Aaron who was the leading MSU sprinter in the finals with her 8.53 second performance, good for second place. Wallace finished the race in fifth, followed by Raccquel Farguharson and Brittany Covington in seventh and eighth -place respectively.
"Obviously anytime you have four in the final it's very good," Fetzer said. "LaQuinta ran almost her personal-best, and beat out a 2009 All-American."
In the throwing events, Favion Cowards threw 51-01.75 for sixth-place in the weight throw, and 37-06.00 in the shot put. Bulldog Ed Weslea threw 50-02.50 to finish fifth in the men's shot put.
"It's a very solid opening meet, and we executed in a lot of areas," Fetzer added. "This was definitely how we wanted to start the year,"
MSU track teams return to action next weekend at the Indiana Relays in Bloomington, while the men's 4x400-meter relay team is a highlight at the 103rd Melrose Games in New York, Ny.
Purple Tiger Invitational Results
Men
Long Jump Individual Winner: Zedric Thomas, LSU 26-03.00
MSU: 14. Kendrick Poullard, 22-03.50
Shot Put Individual Winner: Adonson Shallow, SE Louisiana, 55-11.75
MSU: 5. Ed Weslea, 50-02.50
Women
20-lb. Weight Throw Individual Winner: Frednisha Marshall, Stephen F. Austin, 63-11.00
MSU: 6. Favion Cowards, 51-01.75
Long Jump Individual Winner: Tori Bowie, Southern Miss, 20-03.75
MSU: 2. Wendy Copeland, 20-02.25; 7. LaQuinta Aaron, 18-01.00
Shot Put Individual Winner: Brienna Kennedy, LSU, 47-05.00
MSU: 12. Favion Cowards, 37-06.00
60-Meter Hurdles Prelim Individual Leader: Lolo Jones, Asics, 8.14
MSU: 4. Keisha Wallace, 8.71; 6. LaQuinta Aaron, 8.80; 9. Brittany Covington, 8.90; 10. Racquel Farquharson, 9.03; 12. Talisha Lee, 9.28
60-Meter Dash Prelim Individual Leader: Takeia Pickney, LSU, 7.42
MSU: 15. Candice Polk, 7.75; 16. Richesa McCaleb, 7.77; 20. Taneisha Baker, 7.81
High Jump Individual Winner: Ke'Airra Jones, Southern Miss, 5-08.75
MSU: 7. Alyssa Hall, 5-03.00
60-Merter Hurdles Finals Winner: Jessica Ohanaja, Tiger Olympians, 8.38
MSU: 2. LaQuinta Aaron, 8.53; 5. Keisha Wallace, 8.73; 7. Racquel Farguharson, 9.14; 8. Brittany Covington, 9.21
4x400-Meter Relay Winner: LSU, 3:44.69
MSU: 2. L. Aaron, T. Baker, C. Polk, B. Covington, 3:39.10; 7. K. Wallace, C. Smyth, R. Farguharson, T.Lee, 3:56.12
Players Mentioned
