MState Track And Field Hands Out 2007 Season Awards
The Bulldog Spirit Award is given to individuals who show team leadership on and off the track. The 2007 honorees for this award are sophomore Annie Falor and junior Chris Woods. Falor, a distance competitor for the Lady Bulldogs, had a season-best time of 17 minutes, 19.13 seconds in the 5000-meter run at the Georgia Relays. The Flagstaff, Ariz.-product also competes in the women's cross country team. This past fall, she placed ninth at the Crimson Classic and 24th at the Southeastern Conference Championships. Woods, an all-American during the 2005 season and an NCAA Championships qualifier a year ago, has competed in the 800-meter run and an alternate on the men's 4x400-meter relay squad. The Atlanta, Ga.-native will compete next week in the NCAA Mideast Regional in the 800-meter run. He clocked a time of 1:49.82 at the Auburn Invitational to advance to next week's postseason event.
Selected as the most improved award winners were sophomores Marrissa Harris and John Bailey. Harris, an NCAA qualifier in the women's long jump this season, improved in other areas from her freshman campaign. As a freshman, the Memphis, Tenn.-native, broke two MSU freshman records in the 100-meter hurdles and the heptathlon. In 2007, she posted a career-best mark in the long jump with a leap of 20 feet, one and three quarter inches at the Alabama Relays. Her mark ranks second all-time on the school's superlative list in the long jump. This past week, Harris placed fourth in the heptathlon at the SEC Championships with 5,242 points. Bailey set three personal-best marks during the outdoor season in the 100, 200 and 400-meter runs. At the season lid-lifter FSU Snowbird event, he posted a time of 10.61 in the 100m and registered a team-best 21.24 in the 200m at the MSU-hosted Bulldog Invitational.
The team's Most Valuable Athlete award went to seniors Nicola Wilson and Travis McKay. Wilson is the school-record holder in the shot put with a mark of 50-01 ¾, which was set in 2006. As she winds down her collegiate career, the Trenton, N.J. resident will leave her mark in the Maroon and White record books. She currently owns the top-three shot put marks in MSU history. Her season-best performance came at the Texas Relays where she earned a mark of 49-07 ¾. Wilson ranks as one of the top SEC performers in the shot put. McKay, a distance standout for the Bulldogs, was a three-time SEC Runner of the Week Award winner during his stint in Maroon and White. He won the award during the first week of the outdoor season after his performance in the Georgia Relays. At the Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, Ca., he won the 3000-meter steeplechase in 8:52.23, the second-best time in the event at MSU. The Edmonton, Alberta, Canada-native has earned NCAA Regional bids in the men's 1500-meter run and the 300-meter steeplechase.
The Iron Dog Award is presented to track student athletes that have performed extensively over their four years on campus. The awards are named after former State track and field standouts Tiffany McWilliams and the late Jace Lacoste. McWilliams, one of most decorated female athletes in the history of MSU athletics, was a three-time NCAA Champion and all-American at the school. She won six SEC titles throughout her career and was named the conference's Runner of the Year in 2004. Lacoste, an all-SEC decathlete, was killed in an automobile accident in 1995. The award is given annually to the most outstanding Bulldog track and field athlete.
The 2007 winners of the four-year award are seniors Jennifer McPherson and Arthur Davis. McPherson joins McWilliams as one of three MSU women to compete in all three NCAA Championships within track and field ?€“ cross country, indoor track and outdoor. This season, she has qualified for the 800-meter and 1500-meter runs at the NCAA level. At the recent SEC Track and Field Championships, she claimed fourth in the 1500-meter run with a personal-best time of 4:20.87. Davis, a three-time all-American, will be bidding to become the second MSU track and field athlete to earn all-American status in all four seasons at State. The Mobile, Ala.-product is a member of the sixth-ranked 4x400-meter relay team and has qualified in the 400m at the NCAA Mideast Regional.