MSU to Host Second Annual SEC/BIG 10 Challenge
STARKVILLE, Miss. - Taking place Friday at the state-of-the-art Carl Maddox Track Facility, the second annual SEC/BIG 10 Challenge will feature eight teams in a conference vs. conference showdown.
From the SEC, rivals Mississippi State and Ole Miss will join forces with Tennessee to face off against Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State (men only), Purdue and Wisconsin from the Big 10.
"With all of the conference realignments people are big on conference pride, and that will certainly be present Friday," said coach Steve Dudley, whose men's team enters the meet ranked No. 14 in the latest USTFCCCA poll. "Some of the top athletes in the nation will be competing, many of which you will see in the Olympics one day, so the competition level will be high."
Scoring at the meet will follow the international system and will be as follows: in each event first place will be awarded 10 points, second 8 points, third 6 points, fourth 4 points, fifth 2 points, and sixth place will receive 1 point. At the end of the day all points will be pooled together by conference and both a men's and women's champion will be crowned.
In addition to the Bulldogs' No. 14 ranking, Ole Miss comes to town at No. 21, Indiana is No. 8, while Wisconsin comes in at No. 19 and Ohio State is No. 25 respectively.
On the women's side, Tennessee enters the meet as the lone ranked team coming in at No. 14.
The Challenge, which is free to attend, gets underway with field events at 9 a.m., while the running events are scheduled to start at 1:40 p.m. Concluding the day will be the highly-anticipated 4x400-meter relay, where the Bulldogs are ranked No. 3 nationally.