Women?s Track & Field Looks To Excel At SEC Championships
February 25, 2016 | Track & Field
STARKVILLE, Miss. – With the indoor regular season in the rearview mirror, seventeen Mississippi State athletes are slated for competition at the SEC Championships in Fayetteville this weekend.
“This is a challenging meet for teams,” MSU coach Steve Dudley said. “There are a lot of strong, competitive teams ready to compete this weekend and we are one of them. This is a great opportunity for our women to improve. I think we will have some significant performances this weekend.”
Action in Fayetteville will begin with the pentathlon at 11 a.m. CT on Friday. Leah Lott, Ste'yce McNeil and Zaria Tillman will be partaking. This will mark the first pentathlon of the season for the trio. McNeil finished fourth last season in the event at the Samford Multi Invitational after scoring 3,470 points.
The following event will be the 60m hurdle prelims at 4:20 p.m. Tiffany Flynn, Lott, McNeil and Tillman will take the track for MSU with hopes of making Saturday's finals.
Kimari Martin will take on the 400m dash for the Bulldogs. She ran a personal-best 54.45 earlier this season, which is the fourth-best time in MSU history. Freshman Alon Lewis makes her championship debut in the 200m dash on Friday.
With the best time in the SEC so far this season, senior Marta Freitas looks to improve in the mile run. Her best time this season came at the Music City Challenge with a time of 4:38.24. Freitas' time is the third-best in program history and currently No. 20 in the country.
Competing alongside Freitas will be junior Ffion Price, who holds the fourth-best time in the mile in school history with a time of 4:41.49, also set at the Music City Challenge. Her time is the eighth best in the conference. The mile prelims are set for 5:45 p.m. on Friday.
Cornelia Griesche, who holds the 5000m run school record with a time of 16:22.93, will go on to compete in the event along with Mia Meydrich on Saturday at 4:25 p.m.
Appearing in her final SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships, senior Madison Milhoan will be taking on the 800m run for the Maroon and White.
After the mile run, Freitas will go on to partake in the 3000m run finals Friday night, along with Shannon Fair, Antonia Hehr and Griesche. Freitas holds the second-best time in MSU history with a time of 9:29.30, while Griesche holds the third-best with a time of 9:30.83. Both times were ran this season. Hehr currently holds the MSU freshman record in the event after clocking a time of 9:45.24 at the Music City Challenge.
Six Bulldogs will be in the field for MSU. Leah Lott will begin her first SEC Championships with the long jump Friday at 5:30 p.m. Following Lott will be Haley Reynolds in the shot put at 7 p.m.
On Saturday, four athletes will be competing in the field at 4:30 p.m.
School record holder in the pole vault Sydney Rodkey will be competing in her last SEC Indoor Championships.
Logan Boss will represent MSU in the high jump. Boss' best clearance in the event is 5-09.75, which is the third-best in school history. Flynn will take on the triple jump, while Brianna Smith will be in the weight throw.
Last season the women's team brought home the highest finish at the SEC Indoor Championships after scoring 36.70 points to place seventh.
Fans can watch the championships live on the SECN+ from 3:55 p.m. – 8:15 p.m. CT and again on Saturday from 2:55 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. ESPN will also air a two-hour show Sunday, Feb. 28, at 6 p.m.
Live results for the event can be found at http://www.flashresults.com/2016_Meets/Indoor/02-26_SEC/.
Completion will take place at the Randal Tyson Track Center. For additional information on the championships visit http://www.arkansasrazorbacks.com/sec-indoor-track-field-championship/.
While the women's team competes in the SEC Championships, the men's team will have three Bulldogs competing in the Boston Qualifier on Sunday.
Seth Peace will take on the high jump, while Rodrigo Rocha and Philip Smith are slated for the 200m dash.
For more information on the MSU track and field teams visit HailState.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@HailStateTF).
