MState Track Heads To The Plains For Auburn Invitational
MState is coming off a split weekend with 17 athletes making the trek to Walnut, Calif. for the prestigious Mt. SAC Relays, while the rest of the squad competed in the Mississippi Open in Oxford, Miss. last Saturday. MSU senior Travis McKay won the 3000-meter steeplechase at the Mt. SAC Relays with a time of eight minutes, 52.23 seconds. The time turned in by the Edmonton, Alberta, Canada-native improved his NCAA Regional status in the event. He posted a regional qualifying mark at the Georgia Relays with a time of 8:54.95. State reeled in five NCAA Regional qualifying marks at the Ole Miss event. The Bulldogs notched four post season marks at the event. The men registered two qualifying marks in both the 400-meter dash and the 800-meter run. Bruce Davis and Arthur Davis earned bids to the post-season competition in the 400-meter dash.
On the women's side, senior Jen McPherson claimed third place in the 1500-meter run at the west coast event with a season-best time of 4:21.63. Her time ranks third-best all-time in MState track laurels in the 1500-meter run. With her mark, the Nampa, Idaho-product has qualified for NCAA post-season competition in her last two outings. Michelle Corrigan broke a 12-year standing record in the 10K at Mt. SAC with a time of 35:30.43. The previous record was held by Stacey Moseley, who set the record in 1995. Lady Bulldog freshman Bridgette Rose became the sixth competitor on the women's side to earn an NCAA Regional mark. The Leeds, Ala.- native claimed the 100-meter hurdles event with a time of 13.78 at the Mississippi Open.
The Maroon and White will compete against 16 teams at the AU-hosted event, including Southeastern Conference foes Tennessee (men) and Auburn. The Tigers enter the meet ranked No. 2 in the country. Other teams include ?€“ Bevill State, Birmingham Southern, Central Michigan (women) Charlotte, Columbia, Columbus State, Florida Atlantic, Gardner Webb, Georgia Southern, Jacksonville State, Navy (women), Troy, UAB and Wallace State.
Field events start at 10:30 a.m. CST with the javelin while the first running event is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. with the 100-meter preliminaries. Live results will be available at www.AUTigers.com.
Following Saturday's action, MSU will participate in the Penn Relays that will run from Thursday, April 26 thru Saturday, April 28 in Philadelphia, Pa.