MSU track and field participated in the Mississippi Invitational Saturday and marked additional regional qualifiers for the season. Head coach Al Schimdt said several of his runners showcased their flexibility during the meet.
“We had a good meet,”
Schimdt said. “We had some
athletes compete in events that
they normally do not do and still
came out of the weekend with
several qualifying times.”
On the men’s side, junior
Dwight Mullings joined freshman
D’Angelo Cherry in regionally
qualifying in the 100-meter
dash by placing 12th. He also
qualified in the 200 with 20.85
in the preliminaries and later
came in at fourth place in the
finals.
Mullings said he likes competing
in the SEC because of the
heightened level of competition.
He also said he enjoys the opportunity
of competing against fellow
Jamaicans.
“I have got my confidence
now, and I am looking forwarding
to running in the 400 at
Auburn,” Mullings said.
After two positive events,
Mullings could continue his
development if he remains
healthy, associate head coach
Steve Dudley said.
“Dwight has had a good string
of competitions the past two
weeks,” he said. “He has begun
to find the confidence needed to
perform well.”
Sophomore Emanuel Mayers
ran qualifying times in the 400-
meter dash at sixth place and
400-hurdles at first place, posting
heat times of 46.28 and
51.35, respectively.
“It was a chance for me to dust
off some of the rust some more,”
Mayers said. “I felt good about
going out there and ran better
than some of my competition at
the SEC meet.”
Cherry ran the 200 at a time
of 20.91 in the preliminaries,
but according to Dudley, Cherry
will focus on the 100. Regardless,
Cherry managed to qualify
regionally.
“[Cherry] went out there and
ran the first 150 meters like a wild
man, so his time paid the price
towards the last 50 meters of the
race,” Dudley said. “[Cherry] is
not a 200-meter runner, but we
wanted to build some endurance
for his final sprint in the 100 by
running a little longer race than
he is used to.”
For the women’s long jump,
senior Priscilla Gaines jumped
a regionally qualifying mark of
19 feet 8.25 inches for second
place.
Assistant coach Bryan Fetzer
said that the team is glad to have
several regional qualifiers in different
events.
“[Gaines] qualified for the
long jump with a slight foot
injury, so we are happy to have
another qualifier,” he said.
The team looks forward
to Friday and Saturday at the
Auburn Invitational at Auburn,
Ala.