Mississippi State’s men’s track team finished second while the women’s team finished third Saturday at the Saluki Booster Club Invitational in Carbondale, Ill. The Lady Bulldogs finished the meet with 127 points, placing third behind Southeast Missouri State and Southern Illinois.
The Bulldogs finished behind host Southern Illinois, picking up 42 1/2 points for second place.
The Bulldogs’ were led by newcomer Marquis Davis, who provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships while winning the 60-meter dash with a 6.71 mark. Teammates Pierre Browne (6.73) and Keston. Nelson (6.94) finished second and fourth, respectively, in the 60 meters.
The men’s team also picked up a first-place finish in the 200 meters with Keston Nelson posting a 22.21. Freshman LaChristopher Lewis finished fourth in the 200 meters with a time of 22.61. Kelvin Harris placed second in the 60-meter high hurdles, clocking a 8.00 in the race.
“We are really happy with today’s results,” said head coach Al Schmidt. “We got some pretty good races out of our team. You’d like to get the win in meets like this, but we’re happy with how it turned out.”
On the women’s side, senior all-American Camille Harper led the way, placing first in the 60 meters (7.63) and the 200 meters (25.62). Two-time all-American senior Elisha Williams leaped 19-8 1/4 in the long jump to place first.
In the women’s distance events, freshman Tiffany McWilliams picked up first place in the 800 meters (2:15.90), while junior Christine Zawaski finished first in the 3000 meters (10:17.82). Freshman Meggan Hodge won the 5000 meters with a time of 17:42.17. The distance medley relay team of McWilliams, CeCe Brown, Kristin Tallent and Christine Zawaski also earned first place with a time of 12:16.24.
Junior LeKisha Barnaby-Pope gained another first place for the Lady Bulldogs in the 60-meter hurdles with a mark of 8.92, while Elisha Williams placed third at 9.03.
MSU’s track squads will be back in action on Friday, Jan. 18, in the SEC Regional meet in Fayetteville, Ark., the teams’ first of three trips to the home of the NCAA Indoor Championships this year.