MSU Travels To Oxford For The Ole Miss Invitational
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Now that the Texas Relays is marked a complete success, the Mississippi State men's and women's track and field teams head to Oxford for the Ole Miss Invitational Saturday.
"Any time you are in competition against your rival and other SEC teams it's good to try and get big marks," 22-year head coach Al Schmidt said.
MSU is striving to gain early qualifying marks for the NCAA first round, and this weekend is the prime environment for them to do so.
"It's a meet for us to nail down some qualifying times before the SEC Championships," Schmidt said.
The 11th-ranked Bulldogs have faired well this season in the sprinting events, and look to improve upon their already nationally ranked 200-and 400-meter dash times. Dwight Mullings, Tavaris Tate and O'Neal Wilder are set to compete in the 200-meter dash, while freshman Deaundre Barnaby will join Mullings and Wilder in the 400-meter dash.
In the field events for the Bulldogs, thrower Ed Weslea is coming off the best weekend of his career having thrown a personal-best while at the Tiger Track Classic last weekend, and triple jumper Kendirck Poullard is looking to better his marks to secure a spot in the post-season.
"Our women are competing very well for this time of the year," Schmidt added. "We still have some work to do in some areas, but I feel like we are right where we need to be."
The women's team has competed well at every meet this season and wants this weekend to be no different. Seniors LaQuinta Aaron and Wendy Copeland have been a mainstay atop the leaderboards and look to bring in top performances in their respective events.
In the distance events, freshman Chole Phillips and junior Simone Domingue continue to strive in the 800- and 1500-meter runs. Last week in Austin, Phillips turned in personal-best times in both races.
Competition begins in Oxford at 11:30 a.m. in the field events and at 12:30 p.m. on the track.