State Resumes Track Season At Alabama Relays
Lady Bulldogs set to see first action of outdoor season
STARKVILLE, Miss. ?€“ Mississippi State University's track and fieldsquads return to action this weekend at the Alabama Relays inTuscaloosa, Ala. Men's decathlon events begin Thursday and resumeFriday morning. The remainder of events is scheduled for Saturday andSunday features relay finals. The event is being held at the Sam BaileyTrack Complex on the University of Alabama campus.
Sunday's final are team scored. This meet is a big traditional battle,and we're trying to win it on both sides, said MSU head coach AlSchmidt. We have a good chance to be in there. With our women, ourstrength is in our middle distance and distance runners. Hopefully, wecan show and flex in the relays. We've still got some young ones tryingto make it in the SEC.
After completion of the indoor season, the Lady Bulldogs took a weekoff before this weekend's competition. During the indoor season, juniorNicola Wilson (Trenton, N.J.) opened the year breaking the schoolrecord in the shot put at the Clemson Invitational and followed bybreaking the record on two other occasions. Wilson's throw of 49 feet,one-and-three-quarters inches is the current record and the throwresulted in a fifth-place finish at the SEC Championships.
Freshman Gabrielle Dillon (Liberty, Miss.) narrowly missed entering theMSU all-time superlatives list in the 60-meter dash, after running 7.58(c) at the SEC Championships. In distance events, junior Jen McPherson(Nampa, Idaho) placed fourth in the mile run at the SEC Championships,while teammate and senior Zita Magloire (Tallahassee, Fla.) posted herbest finish in the event at the Boston University-hosted TerrierClassic. Junior Mina Thorstenson's (Okauchee, Wis.) season washighlighted by two wins ?€“ one in the 5000-meter run (ClemsonInvitational) and the other in the mile run at the Bayou BengalInvitational.
Last week at the Florida State-hosted FSU Snowbird, the Bulldogsjump-started the season with two regionally qualifying marks. State's4x400-meter relay squad of junior transfer Ezra Jones (Wildwood, Fla.),junior all-American Arthur Davis (Mobile, Ala.), sophomore all-AmericanElzie Coleman (Newburgh, N.Y.) and junior transfer Bruce Davis (PhenixCity, Ala.) ran 3 minutes, 9.37 seconds. In the high jump, sophomoreTim Williams (Pensacola, Fla.) cleared 6-10¾ to win the meet title.State freshman Ty Williams (Panama City, Fla.) won the 800-meter runwith a time of 1:54.89.
In the 5000-meter run, junior Travis McKay (Edmondton, Alberta) tookthird (14:25.14), while four other Bulldogs ?€“ junior Wade Martin(Cullman, Ala.), sophomore John Brigham (Mobile, Ala.), senior GedamuEge (Atlanta, Ga.) and sophomore Pad Judd (Cushing, Wis.) ?€“ finishedfourth, sixth, seventh and ninth respectively.