Track And Field Begins Competition At NCAA Championships
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? A total of nine Mississippi State track and field athletes begin competition at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Wednesday afternoon at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.
MSU had a total of six automatic qualifiers from the Mideast Regional meet held May 30-31 in Fayetteville, Ark. Seniors Jamil Hubbard and Golden Coachman came away with individual event titles in the 400-meter dash and 800-meter runs, respectively. Freshman O’Neal Wilder, freshman Emmanuel Mayers, senior Chris Woods and Hubbard won the 4x400-meter relay in 3 minutes, 5.62 seconds.
Hubbard followed his SEC championship in the 400-meter dash by winning the regional title in 45.72. Wilder placed second in 46.20. Coachman edged Elkana Kosgei from LSU to win the meet title in 1:48.07. Woods took fourth in 1:48.54.
The men’s 4x100-meter relay team finished seventh at the regional meet but posted a season-best time of 39.42 at the SEC Championships. The time earned the squad an at-large bid. Kendall May took seventh in the 100-meter dash in a personal-best 10.24. His time also earned him an at-large bid to the championships.
Mayers stepped in to take the place of John Bailey at the regional meet and, along with Kyle Roberts, will be an alternate for the relay teams at the national meet. Bailey will attend the national meet and is expected to run his respective relay.
Marrissa Harris will compete in the heptathlon after posting a school-record and automatic qualifying 5,600 points at the SEC meet to win the league title.
Action for MState begins Wednesday, June 11 at 4:45 p.m. CT with the men’s 4x100-meter relay semifinals.
State’s men have finished as high as second (1923 in Chicago). Most recently, their best showing was at the 2003 meet in Sacramento, Calif., where they finished 20th. The women had their best showing in 2004 when they finished tied for 22nd. MSU has produced six individual outdoor national champions and won the outdoor 1600-meter relay in 1982.