Mississippi State opens its indoor track and field season this weekend at UAB.
2019 Indoor Track & Field Season Preview
January 07, 2019 | Track & Field
by Caleb Garner, Graduate Assistant/Communications
STARKVILLE – Wake up a winner.
That's the mantra Mississippi State track and field interim head coach Chris Woods has begun to instill in his athletes, leading to a successful fall intrasquad meet and one of the program's best academic semesters in the classroom.
"I preach that winning is something that you have to do all the time," Woods said. "You can't just show up to practice and decide you want to be a winner. You have to wake up deciding you are going to be a winner. In the classroom, in life, on the track or field or whatever you do, you have to wake up a winner."
MSU opens the indoor track and field season with a pair of one-day meets in Birmingham at the Blazer Invitational (Jan. 11) and the Vulcan Invitational (Jan. 12), hosted by UAB at the Birmingham Crossplex. Those two meets open up a schedule that Woods said is set up to help his team maximize success as the season progresses.
"I think our schedule is set up for us to maximize our success by the time we get to the conference meet," Woods said. "You're looking at meets like the Razorback Invitational, Tiger Paw and the Music City Challenge. From Razorback Invitational all the way to nationals, all of those meets are national-caliber meets. Some of the best teams in the country are going to be there. That's going to prepare us to have success and reach the goals we've set for our program during the indoor season."
A pair of middle-distance runners, Marco Arop and Dejon Devroe, are key pieces of the puzzle that will be relied upon to help MSU's men's squad build on its successful fall. Arop and Devroe both qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 800m, with Devroe reaching the finals while also taking silver at the SEC Championships. Arop also finished second as a freshman at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Daniel Nixon is the third piece of that talented 800m bunch, finishing third in the event at SECs. Arop, Devroe and Nixon enter the season ranked second, third and fifth in the 800m in MSU indoor history.
On the women's side, a contingent of Bulldogs return who hold marks in MSU's Top 5 in their respective events. Alon Lewis, Monica Mosley and Riley White were part of the indoor 4x400m relay squad that posted the No. 3 mark in school history last year, while Lewis and Charlotte Cayton-Smith have been part of multiple distance medley relay top times in their careers. Cayton-Smith also holds the No. 2 800m mark in the Bulldog record books. Mosley and Justice Sims each rank fifth all-time in the 400m and 200m, respectively.
The Bulldogs also welcome several talented newcomers, seven of whom own personal bests that would either tie or surpass current MSU freshman marks. Some of those begin their collegiate careers this weekend in Birmingham.
A trio of women's pole vaulters—Emma Hunt, Peyton Mickelson and Blaise Seale all hold vaults of 3.50m (11-5.75) or higher, with Hunt and Mickelson at 3.78m (12-4.75) and 3.81m (12-6), respectively. Asia Poe's high jump mark of 1.75m (5-8.75) is just shy of three-time All-American Logan Boss' freshman record mark of 1.77m (5-9.75).
Jeremiah Pierce, on the other hand, boasts a shot put personal-best mark of 18.61m (feet).
"It shows that, as a coaching staff, we did a good job of recruiting," Woods said. "It shows we're trying to move the program in a forward trajectory."
If the Bulldogs would like to improve upon last season's finish in the conference and nationally, in which MSU's women finished 20th in the nation, Woods said that starts with overcoming obstacles along the way.
"I'm excited," Woods said. "We're going to have some ups and downs during the indoor season, but I'm looking forward to those because you cannot be a championship-caliber team if you cannot overcome obstacles. In the intrasquad meet, I saw people not do well in one thing, shake it off and 30 minutes later come back and perform well. It's great we can do that in an intrasquad meet, but now I want to see it in live competition."
For more information on the Mississippi State track and field team, visit HailState.com and follow "HailStateTF" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
STARKVILLE – Wake up a winner.
That's the mantra Mississippi State track and field interim head coach Chris Woods has begun to instill in his athletes, leading to a successful fall intrasquad meet and one of the program's best academic semesters in the classroom.
"I preach that winning is something that you have to do all the time," Woods said. "You can't just show up to practice and decide you want to be a winner. You have to wake up deciding you are going to be a winner. In the classroom, in life, on the track or field or whatever you do, you have to wake up a winner."
MSU opens the indoor track and field season with a pair of one-day meets in Birmingham at the Blazer Invitational (Jan. 11) and the Vulcan Invitational (Jan. 12), hosted by UAB at the Birmingham Crossplex. Those two meets open up a schedule that Woods said is set up to help his team maximize success as the season progresses.
"I think our schedule is set up for us to maximize our success by the time we get to the conference meet," Woods said. "You're looking at meets like the Razorback Invitational, Tiger Paw and the Music City Challenge. From Razorback Invitational all the way to nationals, all of those meets are national-caliber meets. Some of the best teams in the country are going to be there. That's going to prepare us to have success and reach the goals we've set for our program during the indoor season."
A pair of middle-distance runners, Marco Arop and Dejon Devroe, are key pieces of the puzzle that will be relied upon to help MSU's men's squad build on its successful fall. Arop and Devroe both qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 800m, with Devroe reaching the finals while also taking silver at the SEC Championships. Arop also finished second as a freshman at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Daniel Nixon is the third piece of that talented 800m bunch, finishing third in the event at SECs. Arop, Devroe and Nixon enter the season ranked second, third and fifth in the 800m in MSU indoor history.
On the women's side, a contingent of Bulldogs return who hold marks in MSU's Top 5 in their respective events. Alon Lewis, Monica Mosley and Riley White were part of the indoor 4x400m relay squad that posted the No. 3 mark in school history last year, while Lewis and Charlotte Cayton-Smith have been part of multiple distance medley relay top times in their careers. Cayton-Smith also holds the No. 2 800m mark in the Bulldog record books. Mosley and Justice Sims each rank fifth all-time in the 400m and 200m, respectively.
The Bulldogs also welcome several talented newcomers, seven of whom own personal bests that would either tie or surpass current MSU freshman marks. Some of those begin their collegiate careers this weekend in Birmingham.
A trio of women's pole vaulters—Emma Hunt, Peyton Mickelson and Blaise Seale all hold vaults of 3.50m (11-5.75) or higher, with Hunt and Mickelson at 3.78m (12-4.75) and 3.81m (12-6), respectively. Asia Poe's high jump mark of 1.75m (5-8.75) is just shy of three-time All-American Logan Boss' freshman record mark of 1.77m (5-9.75).
Jeremiah Pierce, on the other hand, boasts a shot put personal-best mark of 18.61m (feet).
"It shows that, as a coaching staff, we did a good job of recruiting," Woods said. "It shows we're trying to move the program in a forward trajectory."
If the Bulldogs would like to improve upon last season's finish in the conference and nationally, in which MSU's women finished 20th in the nation, Woods said that starts with overcoming obstacles along the way.
"I'm excited," Woods said. "We're going to have some ups and downs during the indoor season, but I'm looking forward to those because you cannot be a championship-caliber team if you cannot overcome obstacles. In the intrasquad meet, I saw people not do well in one thing, shake it off and 30 minutes later come back and perform well. It's great we can do that in an intrasquad meet, but now I want to see it in live competition."
For more information on the Mississippi State track and field team, visit HailState.com and follow "HailStateTF" on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Players Mentioned
Mid Dis
/ Track & Field
Com
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Dis
/ Track & Field
Mid Dis
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Spr
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Hur
/ Track & Field
Mid Dis
/ Track & Field
Throws
/ Track & Field
Multi
/ Track & Field
Jumps
/ Track & Field
Spr
/ Track & Field
Spr
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