Woods, 4x4 Qualify For National Championships On Final Day Of Mideast Regional
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Sophomore all-American Chris Woods (Atlanta, Ga.) ran 1 minute, 49.14 seconds in the 800-meter run and Mississippi State's 4x400-meter relay team posted a season's best 3:03.09 to qualify for the NCAA Championships on the final day of the Mideast Regional. The meet was held at Tom Black Track at LaPorte Stadium on the University of Tennessee campus.
"The 4x4 was incredible. They ran great. The mark will put them maybe into the top five in the country," said MSU head coach Al Schmidt. "It was a great way to finish, and we'll know late Monday or early Tuesday what Jen's status is as far as nationals."
State's 4x4 featured an all-junior squad which ran the third fastest time in school history and led off with Bruce Davis (Phenix City, Ala.). Ezra Jones (Wildwood, Fla.), all-American Arthur Davis (Mobile, Ala.) and Nathan Daniels (New Iberia, La.) rounded out the crew. Woods finished fifth and advanced to the NCAA meet along with Tennessee sophomore Yarrick Kincaid.
Junior Travis McKay (Edmonton, Alberta) closed out his season, running 9:41.43 in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase.
Junior Jen McPherson (Nampa, Idaho) finished eighth in the women's 1500-meter finals with a time of 4:27.18. While the top five at the regional meet automatically advance to the NCAA meet, McPherson may still be chosen as an at-large candidate based on her best time of the season, 4:22.26 posted at the Auburn Invitational.
Competing at her first regional meet, junior Christina Hernandez (Asheville, N.C.) placed sixth in her flight of the discus with a throw of 144 feet, three inches. In the women's 3000-meter steeplechase, junior Joy Griffith (Tuscaloosa, Ala.) ran 11:55.05.
The 2006 edition of the NCAA Outdoor Championships gets underway June 7 at the Alex G. Spanos Sports Complex in Sacramento, Calif.