Mississippi State
Penn Relays (O)
MSU Men's Relay Teams Qualify For Championship Of America Finals
April 23, 2010 | Track & Field
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - On the second day of the historic Penn Relays the Mississippi State track and field teams stepped up to the plate and raced its way to the Championship of America finals in the 4x200- and 4x400-meter relays.
"The guys ran great today in both the 4x2 and the 4x4," head coach Al Schmidt said. "Our 4x2 should be right up there tomorrow with both (Texas) A&M and Florida. It's going to be a really good race, and the 4x4 is going to be another battle."
The Bulldogs turned in the second fastest time of the day in their best team event, the 4x400 relay. O'Neal Wilder , Dwight Mullings, Emanuel Mayers and Tavaris Tate ran their second fastest time of the season, 3 minutes, 05.12 seconds in the event prelim.
"I think all of our guys ran very well on both the relays," Schmidt said.
In the 4x200-meter relay MSU ran 1:22.97 to finish with the third fastest time headed in to Saturday's final. The Lady Bulldogs also competed in the 4x200 relay and finished 12th.
MSU women's team turned in Top 10 performances in both the shuttle hurdle and sprint medley relays. In the shuttle hurldle, Keisha Wallace, LaQuinta Aaron, Racquel Farquharson and Taleisha Lee ran 54.33 seconds to finish fourth and shatter the school record by over three seconds.
"The girls hurdle race was incredible," Schmidt added. "They ran a very good race."
The quartet of Richesa McCaleb, Farquharson, Wallace and Chloe Phillips ran 3:58.61 to finish seventh in the sprint medley relay.
Bulldog thrower Ed Weslea had another impressive day in both the discus and shot put. Weslea threw a personal-best 167-01 to finish seventh in the discus, and threw 51-10.50 in the shot put to finish ninth.
Justin Christian also qualified for Staurday's 100-meter dash final after a seventh place finish in the event prelim.
"We are looking forward to a big day tomorrow," Schmidt said.
State concludes competition at Franklin Field beginning at 1:40 p.m. in the Championship of America 4x200-meter relay final. The final day of Penn Relays will be aired on ESPN2 on tape delay Saturday beginning at 8 p.m.
Friday Results
Men
4x400-Meter Relay Prelim Leader: Texas A&M, 3:04.84
MSU: 2. O. Wilder, D. Mullings, E. Mayers, T. Tate, 3:05.12
4x100-Meter Relay College Prelim Leader: Texas A&M, 39.37
MSU: 11. J. Christian, D. Cherry, G. Hendricks, O. Wilder, 40.62
4x200-Meter Relay College Prelim Leader: Texas A&M, 1:21.22
MSU: 3. D. Mullings, G. Hendricks, O. Wilder, T. Tate, 1:22.97
100-Meter Dash College Prelim Leader: Marcus Rowland, 10.25, Auburn
MSU: 7. Justin Christian, 10.56
Shot Put College Winner: Dennis Aliotta, 58-06.75, East Carolina
MSU: 9. Ed Weslea, 51-10.50
Discus Championship Winner: James Plummer, 184-08, Rutgers
MSU: 7. Ed Weslea, 167-01
Women
4x200-Meter Relay College Prelim Leader: Texas A&M, 1:31.00
MSU: 12. R. McCaleb, J. Muir, C. Wilson, T. Baker, 1:35.63
100-Meter Hurdle College Prelim Leader: Queen Harrison, 12.46, Virginia Tech
MSU: 17. Keisha Wallace, 13.72
Sprint Medley Champ. of America Winner: LSU, 3:48.36
MSU: 7. R. McCaleb, R. Farquharson, K. Wallace, C. Phillips, 3:58.61
Shuttle Hurdle Champ. of America Winner: Texas A&M, 52.50
MSU: 4. K. Wallace, L. Aaron, R. Farquharson, T. Lee, 54.33
Players Mentioned
