Track & Field Laces Up for Vanderbilt Invite
January 28, 2016 | Track & Field
STARKVILLE, Miss. – With 16 Top 10 finishes at the Conference Clash, the Mississippi State track and field teams have high hopes going into the Vanderbilt Invitational in Nashville this weekend.
“This is a great meet for our athletes, it's a good chance to continue to build and improve our performances,” MSU coach Steve Dudley said. “A couple weeks ago we had a couple athletes see success at this track and I only hope we have even more earn achievements this weekend.”
Logan Boss and Deja Givens kick off the Vanderbilt Invitational on Friday at 4 p.m. CT with the high jump. Boss has been impressive so far this season, placing first last weekend after clearing 5-09.75. Competing on the men's side is Seth Peace and Willie Reed. Peace has had three top-five finishes so far this season.
Haley Reynolds and Brianna Smith will compete in the weight throw, while Reynolds will also see action in the shot put.
Tiffany Flynn and Leah Lott will take on the long jump for the women's team on Friday. Flynn will also compete in the triple jump, while Flynn and Lott are both set to compete in the 60m dash and 60m hurdles. For the men's team, Reed and A.J. Ward will represent MSU in the long jump, as well as the 60m dash.
Junior Carl Pittman will compete in the pole vault for the Bulldogs this weekend, while Sydney Rodkey will participate on the women's side.
For the 200m men's race, MSU has Jerome Bazile, Lawrence Crawford, Alfred Larry, Marshall Nunn, Rodrigo Rocha, Rasheed Tatham, Charles Taylor, Zachary Taylor and Juston Waters. Bazile, Crawford, Nunn, Charles Taylor, Zachary Taylor and Waters will come back to compete in the 60m dash on Saturday. Ro'Derick Spears and Wesley White will also represent the Maroon and White for the 60m dash. Spears and White will then move on to compete in the 60m hurdles.
On the women's side, Alon Lewis, Kimari Martin and Zaria Tillman will be competing in the 200m race. Tillman will also take part in the 60m dash and 60m hurdles along with Ste'yce McNeil.
Distance runners Mia Meydrich and Kristy Terp will represent MSU in the 3000m run. Terp finished last weekend with a time of 10:23:55, while this will be Meydrich's first time competing in the 3000m run this season.
The men's team brings Vince Castillo, Dustin James and Rasheed Tatham to compete in the 400m. Castillo and Tatham both captured top 10 finishes their last time in Nashville at the Commodore Invite.
The Vanderbilt Invitational will run the men's 4x400m Relay at 5:05 p.m., Saturday to conclude the meet. MSU's men's team has had two top five finishes this season, including a win at the Commodore Invite on Jan. 16.
The Vanderbilt Invitational will begin at 4 p.m., Friday afternoon with high jump, while running events for that night will begin at 7 p.m. Competition will take place at the Vanderbilt Student Rec Center.
For more information on the MSU track and field teams visit HailState.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@HailStateTF).
