MSU Track Team Gears Up For SEC Outdoor Championships
- MSU Meet Notes for 2010 SEC Championships
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Mississippi State looks to parlay its success on the track during the regular season into another exceptional weekend when it begins competition at the SEC Outdoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Tennessee.
Competition at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium begins at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday with the women's heptathlon and concludes late Sunday after 42 event winners and two team champions have been crowned.
"We're coming off one the best regular seasons we've had in a long time, but we also know just how difficult it is in the SECs," MSU coach Al Schmidt said. "You're facing the best the nation has to offer. But I like where we're at, and we have a chance to achieve a lot of our goals."
The MSU men carry with them to Knoxville a No. 15 national ranking and runners ranked in the Top 20 in five different events. Freshman Tavaris Tate leads the charge with his No. 2 standing in the 400-meter dash, followed by Dwight Mullings' No. 7 ranking in the same event.
Last year, the men ended their run at Florida's Percy Beard Track ninth overall after getting off to a strong start with three finishing in the Top 10 in the decathlon, led by Darryl Brady's 5th-place showing with 6,573 points.
Robert Scribner ran 30:42.57 to finish 7th in the 10,000-meter run, while D'Angelo Cherry finished 6th (10.30) in the 100-meter dash. The Bulldogs also claimed second and third place in the 400-meter dash final as Mullings ran a personal-best 44.98 seconds and John Bailey finished in 45.55 seconds.
In the field events, Josh Tucker and Allen Cassel finished 6th and 8th, respectively, in the high jump, while Kendrick Poullard jumped 50-05 ¼ to finish 7th in the triple jump.
The Lady Bulldogs invade Big Orange Country with five girls in the polls, led by senior standout LaQuinta Aaron at No. 18 in the heptathlon, followed by Wendy Copeland at No. 19 in the long jump.
Like the men's team, the women began the 2009 SEC Championships earning top marks in the multi events. Senior All-American Marrissa Harris fell just short or repeating as the
heptathlon champion, scoring 5,579 points to finish second, while Aaron finished fifth with 5,351 points. The Lady Bulldogs collected 10 points in the long jump when Copeland finished second with a personal best and regional qualifying leap of 20 feet, 5 ¾ inches and Harris placed seventh at 20-03½.
Harris completed her last SEC Championships with a second-place finish in the 100-meter hurdle final with a run of 13.35 seconds, while Bridgett Rose was sixth with a time of 13.65.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Aaron, Copeland, Rose and Priscilla Gaines ran 45.69 seconds to finish seventh. Crystal Wilson ran 54.61 seconds to finish fifth in the 400-meter dash. In the triple jump, Copeland jumped 40-07 to finish fourth, while Gaines was ninth at 39-11¼
After this weekend, MSU travels to Greensboro, N.C., May 28-29 for the East Region Prelims before heading to Oregon June 9-12 for the NCAA Championships.