Bulldogs And Lady Bulldogs Fare Well At Jace Lacoste
Official Results - Women (PDF)
STARKVILLE, Miss. ? Mississippi State University men's and women's track and field teams fared well at the ninth annual Jace Lacoste Invitational in Starkville, Miss., on Saturday. The event was held at the W.O. Spencer Stadium and Carl Maddox Track. The men's team took top honors with 111 points, and the women's team finished second with 179, 10 points behind the leader Southeast Missouri State.
"The news of the day was that Tiffany is probably leading the country with both her times in the 800m and 1500m," said head coach Al Schmidt. "And really the big news is sophomore Jennifer McPherson who moved into the top 10 in the country in the 1500m. Her time was a huge, huge personal best for her by eight seconds. And of course, Crystal Averitt qualified for regionals in the discus with her school record breaking mark."
Junior Tiffany McWilliams set regional qualifying marks in the 800m with a 2:03.21 and in the 1500m in 4:15.72. Both marks broke the Jace Lacoste Invitational meet records and the W.O. Spencer Stadium and Carl Maddox Track records. Jennifer McPherson finished second in the 1500m with her career-best time of 4:20.80, also a regional qualifying time.
Crystal Averitt broke her own school record set in 2002 in the discus with her regional qualifying distance of 157-2. She also set a personal best mark in the shot put with a 42-2 1/4 for fourth place and took second in the hammer with a distance of 171-0.
Freshman Joy Griffith took first in the 5000-meter run with her personal best time of 17:45.50. Memphis native Michelle Kinney recorded a career best distance of 118-3 in the javelin to finish in first place.
"The big news on the men's side is LaChristopher Lewis and Arthur Davis who qualified for regionals in the 400m, giving MSU four qualified athletes in the event," said Schmidt.
LaChristopher Lewis and Arthur Davis took first and second, respectively, in the 400m dash with their times of 46.09 and 46.67. Lewis's mark broke the Jace Lacoste Invitational meet record set in 2001 by Raymond Bennett of McNeese State. Davis's time was a personal best.
Matt Holcomb broke the Jace Lacoste Invitational meet record in the hammer throw with a regional qualifying distance of 186-4, finishing in first. Lewis also qualified for regionals in the long jump with his first place distance of 25-3 1/4.
Freshman Travis McKay set a career best time in the 1500m in 3:54.68, just missing the MSU freshman record by five seconds, for first place. Jerald Wilson took first in the triple jump with a personal best leap of 45-6 1/3. Chris Withrow matched his PR height of 15-1 in the pole vault to win top honors in the event.
2004 Jace Lacoste Invitational
Men
1. Mississippi State 111
2. Southeast Missouri State 63
3. University of Alabama ? Huntsville 4
Women
1. Southeast Missouri State 189
2. Mississippi State 179
3. Jacksonville State 80
4. University of Alabama ? Huntsville 78
5. Bevill State Community College 72