Cohen's Corner - 5/30/18 - Mississippi State

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Greetings from Florida, everyone. I'll keep this week's message brief as we are in Destin for the annual SEC meetings this week, an opportunity to not only celebrate the success of our great conference, but to discuss how we can further our reach and build upon our achievements. With all our coaches, athletic directors, administrators and SEC leadership together in one place, it's easy to see why our conference has become the strongest in the country.

BASEBALL MOVES ON TO NCAA REGIONAL

As you've likely seen, Coach Henderson and our baseball team were selected to make the program's 37^th appearance in an NCAA Regional this year. Our Bulldogs are headed down to Florida State today for the Tallahassee Regional, where we will open play against Oklahoma on Friday at 11 a.m. central time. As I write this, reserved grandstand seating for the weekend is sold out, but general admission tickets are still available for $40 here.

I know our guys are hoping for a big MSU crowd in Tallahassee and we look forward to seeing many of you there.

TRACK AND FIELD SENDS 12 TO NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS

It seems every week in this space I'm saying something about how great our track and field program has done this spring, and their success has only grown as a full dozen Bulldogs have now qualified for the NCAA Championships, an extremely impressive feat. The job Coach Dudley and his staff have done this season is evident by the strong contingent of Maroon and White headed to Oregon next week to represent our school.

Congratulations are also in order here for javelin standout Anderson Peters – one of two MSU javelin throwers qualifying for the NCAAs – on being named the SEC Men's Freshman Field Athlete of the Year. Anderson is already the SEC Champion, and we look forward to seeing him compete on the national stage next week.

MEN'S TENNIS ENDS YEAR WITH STRONG SHOWING IN NCAA INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

As you know, our men's tennis team had one of the most remarkable years in program history this season. Last week, we recapped that Coach Roberts' squad advanced to the NCAA quarterfinals as a team for the first time in 20 seasons and ended ranked an incredible No. 5 nationally. Since last week's column, our Bulldogs have added even more accolades to an already amazing campaign with strong showings in the NCAA Singles and Doubles Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C.

In singles, we had two players competing. Two-time All-American Nuno Borges made a great run for the second straight season. After becoming MSU's first-ever NCAA Singles semifinalist in 2017, the junior standout did exactly that again this past week, the first Bulldog ever to do so. Joining him was Giovanni Oradini who did nothing more than advance to the Round of 16 in his first-ever NCAA Singles appearance. By doing so, Oradini earned All-America status as just a sophomore. In the final ITA national rankings released today, Borges ended the season No. 4 in the country, while Oradini came in at No. 15.

In the NCAA Doubles draw, Borges and junior Strahinja Rakic made it to the quarterfinals, the first Bulldog tandem to do so since 2000. And, today, they became the first State duo ever to end a season ranked No. 1 in the country! Along with Nuno and Giovanni, Strahinja also earned All-America honors, giving our team three All-Americans this season, the most on a single MSU men's tennis team since 1997.

We appreciate what you do for Mississippi State Athletics and want to encourage you to get others involved. There are three things you can do to help the athletic department at Mississippi State reach its desired goals:

1. Buy Season Tickets
2. Financially Support the Bulldog Club
3. Get Others To Do The Same

Thanks for taking the time to read this update.

Hail State!

John Cohen
Director of Athletics

Mississippi State University Athletics

Cohen's Corner - 5/30/18

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Nuno Borges

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Strahinja Rakic

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