Lady Bulldogs Travel To Gainesville For SEC Championships
STARKVILLE, Miss. ?€“ Following a two-week layoff, the Mississippi StateUniversity women's indoor track and field squad returns to actionFriday-Sunday, Feb. 24-26, at the 2006 Southeastern Conference IndoorTrack and Field Championships. The event is being held at the StephenC. O'Connell Center on the campus of the University of Florida inGainesville.
I like the way the team looks right now, said MSU head coach AlSchmidt. I think we're in the best position we've ever been inentering the conference meet. The distance squad is running well.Jasmine (Walls) is going in with some back problems but she is therunner-up in the high jump. Nicola (Wilson) can be a big-time scorer.We feel good about our distance medley relay. We have some freshmenthat could be factors. We've got some points out there. I feel goodabout this one.
After posting the third best SEC time in the mile run this season,senior Jen McPherson looks to improve on the 4 minutes, 49.69 secondsrun at the Tyson Invitational. Fellow senior Zita Magloire posted apersonal best 4:57.75 in the mile at the Boston University TerrierClassic and also has the fifth-best SEC time in the 3000-meter run(9:45.21). In the 5000-meter run, junior Mina Thorstenson ran ateam-leading 17:32.42 at the Tyson Invitational and ranks ninth on theconference list.
The distance medley relay squad of McPherson, freshman Antrese Banks,sophomore Andrea Wahlin and junior Liz Grube ran 11:44.82 to record thefourth-fastest time in the conference this season.
School-record holder Nicola Wilson takes her shot put mark of 48-04into the meet. Wilson currently ranks among the top 10 competitors inthe event in the league. Junior Christina Hernandez set a personal bestin the shot put at the Bayou Bengal Invitational, throwing 43-03.
In sprints events, freshmen Banks and Gabrielle Dillon head toGainesville having posting the top team times in the 60-meter dash thisyear. Dillon ran 7.64 in at Tyson, while Banks' top time was 7.89, runat the Clemson Invitational. Freshman Marrissa Harris takes thefourth-best time in school history in the 60-meter hurdles (8.82) intothe meet.
Several other freshmen competing at their first SEC meet includeJanelle Finley (200-meter dash, triple jump), Dot Youmans (high jump)and Emily Sanders (shot put, weight throw).
After sitting out the Tyson Invitational due to injury, senior JasmineWalls will return to action in the high jump. Previously on the year,Walls cleared a school-record 5-08¾.
Last season, the Lady Bulldogs finished in 12th place after tallyingeight points. McPherson finished third in the mile, running 4:56.08,while the DMR squad finished 11th. Walls cleared 5-07 to take eighth inthe long jump, while Lauren Johnson finished eighth in the pentathlon(3,558 pts).