Mississippi State
Tyson Invite (I)
Mississippi State Rookie Tate Breaks Indoor 400-Meter Record
February 12, 2010 | Track & Field
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Mississippi State freshman sprinter Tavaris Tate broke a 15-year old 400-meter indoor dash record Friday afternoon at the opening session of the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark.
The highly touted freshman, who is certainly living up to his billing, ran 45.80 seconds to finish second in the event.
"Anytime you break a record that has been in place for that many years is a big thing," MSU coach Al Schmidt said. "It's a tremendous thing to have a freshman break a record and be ranked No. 2 in the NCAA and No. 5 in the world."
The Starkville, Miss., native has been working hard all season long and knew that it would pay off this weekend.
"I've been working hard," Tate said. "I knew coming into this race, I'd be prepared after a tough week of practice. I just went out and did what I've been training to do all year."
Tate wasn't the only State athlete to enjoy success Friday. Sophomore D'Angelo Cherry ran 6.64 seconds in the preliminary round of the 60-meter dash to enter Friday evening's final with the third-fastest time.
"Cherry making it into the final is a great thing," Schmidt said. "He's running against top competition here."
Lady Bulldogs Chloe Phillips and Crystal Wilson also shined on the track.
Phillips, a freshman, ran a personal-best 5 minutes, 2.13 seconds to finish third in the mile run, while Wilson, recorded a personal-best 55.06 in the 400-meter dash. Wilson's time was good to move her to second all-time in MSU history.
Competition resumed late Friday evening with Wendy Copeland in the long jump invitational rounds, followed by Cherry in the 60-meter dash final. The meet concludes on Saturday with the Bulldog 4x400-meter relay team battling against the nation's best at 5:15 p.m.
LATE FRIDAY UPDATE: Mississippi State's D'Angelo Cherry placed third in the 60-meter dash
final at the Tyson Invitational Friday. Cherry,a sophomore, ran 6.69 seconds to
finish behind Auburn's Marcus Rowland and Florida's Jeff Demps. State will
conclude competition in Fayetteville Saturday evening.
Friday Day Session Results
Women
Long Jump College Individual Winner: Brittni Finch, 20-01.00,Miami
MSU: 16. Keisha Wallace, 18-08.00
400-Meter Dash IndividualWinner: Natasha Hastings,51.67,Nike
MSU: 24. Crystal Wilson, 55.06
60-Meter Hurdles Prelim Individual Leader: Perdita Felecian, 8.07 Nike
MSU: 11. LaQuinta Aaron, 8.41; 27. Keisha Wallace, 8.65; 35. Racquel Farguharson, 8.83
800-Meter Dash Individual Winner: Amber Riley, 2:11.35, Auburn
MSU: 22. Dominique Lockhart, 2:26.34
60-Meter Dash Prelim Individual Leader: Veronica Campbell-Brown, 7.19, Adidas
MSU: 54. Richesa McCaleb, 7.71
Mile Run Individual Winner: Paula Whiting, 4:58.67, Tulsa
MSU: 3 Chloe Phillips,5:0213
Men
400-Meter Dash Individual Winner: Torrin Lawrence, 45.03, Georgia
MSU: 2. Tavaris Tate, 45.80; 42. Emmanuel Mayers, 48.47; 61. Alex Richter, 49.59
60-Meter Dash Prelim Individual Leader: Michael Rodgers, 6.60, Nike
MSU: 3. D'Angelo Cherry, 6.64; 28. Dwight Mullings, 6.82; 43. Justin Christian, 6.89; 55. Kendall May, 6.92
Long Jump College Individual Winner: Bobby Carter, 24-09.75,Nebraska
MSU: 24. Kendrick Poullard,21-06.00
