Bulldogs Head West For 2007 NCAA Outdoor Track Championships
MSU will have two competitors in the 800-meter run with juniors Golden Coachman and Chris Woods getting State’s competition underway on Wednesday at 5:40 p.m. CST. There are two rounds of preliminary runs in the two-lap event before the final run on Sunday, June 9. Coachman, from Birmingham, Ala. by way of Wallace State Community College, set a new school record in the 800-meter run at the 2007 Southeastern Conference Championships with a mark of one minute, 47.40 seconds. He qualified for the championship trials with his fourth-place finish at the NCAA Mideast Regional in Columbia, Mo. Woods, a native of Atlanta, Ga., finished fifth at the regional level with a career-best mark of 1:48.15. He is making his second-straight appearance in the 800-meter championship event. A year ago, he posted a mark of 1:51.46 in the preliminary round.
Senior Bruce Davis will vie for the 400-meter national title after scoring a new personal-best mark of 46.02 at the regional level. The opening round of competition of the event is set for 8:00 p.m. CST with the top two individuals and the next six best times advancing to the semifinals. MState distance standout Travis McKay will run in the 3000-meter steeplechase event. The Edmonton, Alberta, Canada-product established a new career mark in the distance event at the Mideast Regional in late May with a time of 8:49.45.
State’s 4x400-meter relay team also made the championship field after capturing third place at the Mideast Regional. The senior-laden foursome of A. Davis, B. Davis, Nathan Daniels and Ezra Jones, clocked a season-best 3:04.72 to move on to the national meet. The squad enters the NCAA Championships with the fifth-best time in the 18-team field.
Live results will be available throughout the four-day event at the online home of all NCAA Championships ? www.NCAASports.com.