Bulldog Track & Field Takes On South Alabama Invite
April 13, 2016 | Track & Field
STARKVILLE, Miss. – In their fourth meet of the season, the Mississippi State track and field teams will venture to Mobile for the South Alabama Invitational.
“This is an exciting weekend for our team,” MSU coach Steve Dudley said. “It will be the first time of the season we get to see our multi athletes in action. We have a lot of talented athletes competing over the next three days. We've got to come out strong every time we step out there to compete.”
Beginning at 10 a.m. CT Thursday, three multi athletes will take on the decathlon for the first time during the outdoor season. Lacing up for the event will be Willie Reed, Zachary Taylor and Jaquarius Wilson.
Taylor ended his 2015 outdoor season on the national stage representing MSU in the event. He was the runner-up at the SEC Championships and 13th at nationals. Taylor also holds the third-best point total at MSU with a total of 7,466.
First up for the No. 11 MSU women's team, heptathlon school record holder Erica Bougard will begin competition in the event at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. Alongside Bougard will be freshman Zaria Tillman in her first heptathlon for the Maroon and White.
Last season, Bougard completed her season at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. She finished fourth overall in the heptathlon. The Byhalia, Miss., native is also the reigning SEC Champion. Her personal-best is 6,288 points.
Bougard is currently No. 2 in the nation in the high jump, sixth in the 100m hurdles and 15th in the long jump.
The multi athletes will continue events on Friday, along with the javelin, the pole vault and the shot put.
Curtis Thompson, the nation's No. 2 javelin thrower, will appear in his fourth meet of the season. Thompson's best throw of 265-10 came earlier this season at the Florida State Relays.
Running events for MSU will take place on Saturday starting at 11:30 a.m. featuring Tiffany Flynn, Leah Lott and Ste'yce McNeil in the 100m hurdles. The meet will be on a rolling schedule starting at 1 p.m. with Vince Castillo, Philip Smith and Charles Taylor in the 400m dash.
Taking on the 800m run for the first time this season will be Brandon McBride, alongside with Patrick Monaghan. Contending in the women's event will be Kaelin Kersh, Alon Lewis, Kimari Martin and Madison Milhoan.
Other events featuring the Bulldogs will be the 100m dash, the 400m hurdles, the 200m dash, the 3000m run and the 4x400m relays.
After tossing the second-best hammer throw in school history last weekend, Brianna Smith is set to take on the event again this weekend.
Clearing a personal-best 7-01 at the Battle of the Bayou, Seth Peace currently ranks 19th in the country. He will appear in the event again this weekend, as will Deja Givens.
Events in the field for the Maroon and White on Saturday will also include the long jump and the discus.
Alabama will be the only other SEC program in attendance, but other schools include Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Jacksonville State, Louisiana-Monroe, Kennesaw State, Mississippi State, Mobile, Samford, South Alabama, Tennessee Tech, Troy, UAB, Valdosta State, William Carey.
For more information on the MSU track and field teams visit HailState.com and follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@HailStateTF).
Multi Events
Thursday
10:00 AM Decathlon Willie Reed, Zachary Taylor, Jaquarius Wilson
10:30 AM Heptathlon Erica Bougard, Zaria Tillman
Friday
10:00 AM Decathlon Willie Reed, Zachary Taylor, Jaquarius Wilson
10:30 AM Heptathlon Erica Bougard, Zaria Tillman
Field Events
Friday
4:30 PM Javelin Curtis Thompson
4:30 PM Pole Vault Carl Pittman, Sydney Rodkey
4:30 PM Shot Put Haley Reynolds
Saturday
9:30 AM Hammer Brianna Smith
10:00 AM Long Jump Tiffany Flynn, Leah Lott, A.J. Ward
11:00 AM High Jump Seth Peace, Deja Givens
1:00 PM Discus Haley Reynolds
Running Events
Saturday
11:30 AM 100m Hurdles Tiffany Flynn, Leah Lott, Ste'yce McNeil
110m Hurdles Ro'Derick Spears
1500m Shannon Fair, Mia Meydrich
1500m Andrew Monaghan, Patrick Monaghan
1:00 PM 400m Vince Castillo, Philip Smith, Charles Taylor
100m Tiffany Flynn
100m Jerome Bazile, Marshall Nunn, Philip Smith
800m Kaelin Kersh, Alon Lewis, Kimari Martin, Madison Milhoan
800m Brandon McBride, Patrick Monaghan
400m Hurdles Dustin James II, Rasheed Tatham
200m Marshall Nunn, Philip Smith, Ro'Derick Spears
3000m Carly Terp
3000m JT Mackay, Andrew Monaghan, Branden Nosker, Pierce Rose
