Mississippi State’s fifth-ranked men’s track team took first-place honors on a record-setting day at the seventh annual Jace Lacoste Invitational in Starkville. Senior Dion Crabbe set two of the 11 meet records tied or broken at the meet named in honor of the former Bulldog decathlete. There were also two school records broken on the women’s side Saturday at Spencer Stadium/Maddox Track. The Bulldogs won the men’s side of the team competition, amassing 159 points on the afternoon. The Lady Bulldogs placed fifth with 105 points on the tightly contested women’s half. Fifteen points separated first from fifth at the final regular-season home meet in Starkville.
The senior sprinter Crabbe set two meet records in winning two races on the day, tying the 100-meter dash record of 10.32 while breaking the 200-meter meet record with his 20.71 mark. Those marks qualified Crabbe provisionally for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Baton Rouge, La., at the end of the 2002 outdoor track season.
On the women’s side, senior CeCe Brown broke her old record in the 400-meter hurdles with her 1:01.32 mark Saturday. Freshman Crystal Averitt also broke the school’s discus record with her throw of 147-4, shattering Trish Curtis’ mark of 143-3 set last year.
All told, the men took four first place finishes while the women had three. Freshmen LaChristopher Lewis and Matthew Denton took the other wins behind Crabbe’s two, with Lewis winning the 400-meter dash (47.05) and Denton leaping 6-10 to win the high jump competition.
The women’s winners included Brown’s 400-meter hurdle win, freshman Tiffany McWilliams’ victory in the 1500 meters and junior Le’Kisha Barnaby-Pope’s finish in the 100-meter hurdles.
The Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs will return to action next weekend in two different events. Some athletes travel to Walnut, Calif., for the Mt. SAC Relays April 20-21, while others venture to Hattiesburg for the Southern Mississippi Relays.