McPherson Qualifies For Mideast Regional In 1500 At Auburn Invite
AUBURN, Ala. ?€“ The Mississippi State University men's and women's trackand field squads competed at the Auburn Invitational at the newlydedicated Hutsell-Rosen Track on Saturday. Junior Jen McPherson (Nampa,Idaho) ran 4 minutes, 22.26 seconds to win the women's 1500-meter runand qualify for June's Mideast Regional. The time is the best by aSoutheastern Conference female athlete and ranks among the top 15 besttimes in the country this season.
We had a great day, said MSU head coach Al Schmidt. The women's 1500was a great race, and we dominated it. Jasmine (Walls) was having agreat day until her back started hurting her, so we held her back abit. This is probably the highest number of women we've ever hadqualify for regionals in a single season. Nicola (Wilson) has proven tobe quite steady, as has Chris (Woods).
Also in the 1500, senior Zita Magloire (Tallahassee, Fla.) took third,running 4:29.36, a personal best. Behind Magloire, four Lady Bulldogsalso finished in the top 10 ?€“ junior Joy Griffith (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) ina personal record time of 4:32.29, sophomore Annie Falor (Flagstaff,Ariz.) in 4:33.07 (personal record), freshman Michelle Corrigan (GreenBay, Wis.) with a personal-best 4:39.57 and junior Mina Thorstenson(Okauchee, Wis.) in 4:41.43.
Junior Nicola Wilson (Trenton, N.J.) won the shot put with aregionally-qualifying throw of 49 feet, five inches. Sophomore TimWilliams (Pensacola, Fla.) won the men's high jump title after clearing6-08 ¾. The Bulldog 4x400-meter relay team of junior Bruce Davis(Phenix City, Ala.), sophomore all-American Elzie Coleman (Newburgh,N.Y.), junior all-American Arthur Davis (Mobile, Ala.) and junior EzraJones (Wildwood, Fla.) won the meet title, clocking a season's best andregional-qualifying 3:05.43.
A. Davis finished fifth in the men's 200-meter dash, crossing thefinish line in 21.50. In the 400-meter dash, B. Davis ran 46.45, juniorNathan Daniels (New Iberia, La.) clocked 47.03, Coleman came in at47.06 and Jones ran 47.07 for the Bulldogs. All the marks areregional-qualifying times. In the 800-meter run, sophomore all-AmericanChris Woods (Atlanta, Ga.) clocked 1:48.94, a regional-qualifying timeto finish second. Junior Ryan Irwin (Ballwin, Mo.) also finished in thetop 10, taking seventh in a season's best 1:53.35.
In the 100-meter hurdles, freshman Marrissa Harris (Memphis, Tenn.) ran13.99 to finish fifth. State's 4x100-meter relay team of Harris,freshman Antrese Banks (Gloster, Miss.), freshman Gabrielle Dillon(Liberty, Miss.) and freshman Janelle Finley (Mobile, Ala.) ran aseason's best 46.51. In the men's pole vault, sophomore Joseph Queen(Jackson, Miss.) cleared a season's best 14-07 ¾, while teammate andsenior Chris Withrow (Vicksburg, Miss.) also leaped a season's best at14-01 ¾. In the men's long jump, redshirt freshman Keith Hewlett(Detroit, Mich.) jumped 23-09 to finish second.
Senior Jasmine Walls (Picayune, Miss.) cleared 5-07 to finish third inthe high jump, while Harris jumped a personal-best 5-01. In the longjump, a pair of Lady Bulldogs went three-four in the event. SeniorLauren Johnson (Scottsboro, Ala.) leaped her second-best mark of theseason, taking third with a mark of 19-00 ¾. Johnson also took eighthin the 100-meter hurdles, clocking a season's best 14.20. Harrisfinished one spot behind Johnson after jumping 18-09 ¼. Freshman EmilySanders (Woodstock, Ga.) second in the hammer throw (162-07). Sandersfollowed with a personal-best throw of 130-11 in the javelin. Finleytook third in the triple jump, leaping 38-05 ½.
On the track, Dillon ran 24.99 to finish ninth in the 200-meter dash.Banks recorded a personal best in the event, running 25.17. In the800-meter run, the Lady Bulldogs crossed the line in fourth, fifth,sixth and 10th places. Magloire led the way, clocking 2:10.54.McPherson and sophomore Andrea Wahlin (Cold Spring, Minn.) followed,running 2:11.79 and 2:13.32, respectively. Junior Liz Grube (Sherwood,Wis.) rounded out the competitors for MState (2:15.86).
In men's javelin competition, freshman Daniel Zabaldano (Brandon,Miss.) threw a personal-best 171-03. Junior Eliott Morant (Kansas City,Mo.) continued to improve his time in the 110-meter hurdles. Morant rana personal-best 14.57 en route to a sixth-place finish.
Both MSU squads return to action April 27-29 at the Penn Relays inPhiladelphia, Pa.