Mississippi State Men 25th In Latest USTFCCCA Poll
? USTFCCCA Poll (May 22, 2008)
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? For the first time in four weeks, the Mississippi State men’s track and field team is ranked among the nation’s top 25. The Bulldogs jumped 12 spots from a week ago and are 25th in the latest installment of the USTFCCCA Division I Men's Outdoor Track and Field Rankings.
Senior Jamil Hubbard ran 45.24 seconds to win the men’s 400-meter dash finals on the final day of the 2008 Southeastern Conference Track and Field Championships last Sunday. Hubbard’s time is a personal best, regional qualifying mark, a Hutsell-Rosen Track record and the fourth fastest time in school history. Hubbard becomes the second Bulldog to win the event at the conference meet, following Jude Monye in 1995.
Freshman O’Neal Wilder took second in the event, running a regional qualifying and personal best 45.54 seconds. His mark ranks fifth on the all-time list.
In addition to Hubbard and Wilder, eight other Bulldogs scored on the final day along with both relays posting top eight finishes. John Bailey took seventh in the 400, running a regional time and personal best of 46.44. In the 800-meter run, Golden Coachman (1:48.26) and Chris Woods (1:48.71) posted regional qualifying marks to finish fourth and sixth, respectively.
The Bulldogs’ 4x100-meter relay team of Kendall May, Bailey, Hubbard and Wilder ran a regional qualifying 39.42 to finish third. State’s 4x400-meter relay squad of Woods, Hubbard, Emmanuel Mayers, and Wilder tallied a season-best and regional mark of 3:05.26.
All three Bulldogs competing in the 100-meter dash and 400-meter hurdles posted regional qualifying marks. In the 100, May ran 10.37 to take eight, while Mayers (51.35, seventh and a personal best) and Kyle Roberts (51.99, ninth) competed in the 400-meter hurdles. Bailey also ran in the 200-meter dash, where he finished eighth.
Allen Cassell cleared six feet, eight and three quarter inches to take third in the high jump. Darryl Brady also scored in the event, jumping 6-06 ? to finish eighth. Overall, State’s men scored 56.20 points to finish eighth, their best finish since 2005.
Bailey, Cassell, Coachman, Hubbard, May, Mayers, Roberts, Wilder and Woods will compete at the 2008 NCAA Mideast Regional next weekend, May 30-31, in Fayetteville, Ark.