The MSU track and field team returned from Fayetteville, Ark., with new records and bright spots aplenty. One of the brightest came from Starkville’s own Tavaris Tate.
Tate, a highly-touted freshman, broke a 15-year-old school record in the 400-meter indoor dash Friday afternoon at the invitational’s opening session. With a time of 45.80 seconds, he finished second in the event, and head coach Al Schmidt said he was more than impressed with Tate’s performance.
“Anytime you break a record that has been in place for that many years is a big thing,” he said. “It’s a tremendous thing to have a freshman break a record and be ranked No. 2 in the NCAA and No. 5 in the world.”
Tate arrived at MSU with high expectations, but coaches say all the hype in the world is fine as long as Tate keeps competing at such an elite level. The Starkville High School graduate said he has been training hard all season long, and his work ethic paid off in front of SEC eyes in Fayetteville.
“I’ve been working hard,” Tate said. “I knew coming into this race, I’d be prepared after a tough week of practice. I just went out and did what I’ve been training to do all year.”
Along with Tate, sophomore sprinter D’Angelo Cherry had his own taste of success, finishing third in the preliminary round of the 60-meter dash. He then finished third in the final round of the 60-meter with a time of 6.69 seconds.
Schmidt said Cherry’s success in the meet is something to be proud of.
“Cherry making it into the final is a great thing,” Schmidt said. “He’s running against top competition here.”
First place in the event was taken by Florida sprinter Jeff Demps, who is well known in the southeast as a standout running back for the Gator football team, with a time of 6.59 seconds.
Lady Bulldogs Chloe Phillips and Crystal Wilson each had a big day of their own on Friday.
Phillips ran a personal-best five minutes, 2.13 seconds in the mile run, finishing in third place.
Wilson recorded a personal-best 55.06 seconds in the 400-meter dash, the second fastest time in MSU history.
Friday’s events and achievements, however, were only the beginning.
On Saturday, the record-breaking party began with the women’s 4×400-meter relay team consisting of Keisha Wallace, LaQuinta Aaron, Taneisha Baker and Brittany Covington set a school record time of 3:43.44.
Crystal Wilson, who was all-SEC and an NCAA qualifier last year, and Jody Ann Muir did not run in the event as assistant coach Bryan Fetzer said they normally would have.
“A couple of them were put in spots they weren’t normally on,” he said. “The girls that ran did a phenomenal job.”
Furthering the success for the ladies, Wendy Copeland finished fifth in the long-jump competition. She jumped 20-09.25, moving her to second all-time in the MSU record books and earning her provisional marks for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
Copeland also finished 12th in the triple jump with her season long leap of 39-05.75. Fetzer said her success in both events is a testament to her excellent season, as other schools become more aware of her national caliber showings.
The top three finishers in the women’s long jump were either former world champions or NCAA champions, which Fetzer said shows a lot about Copeland.
“In the long jump, it’s showing how far Wendy’s come as an athlete,” said coach Fetzer. “She’s learning how to compete in the crunch time.”
Copeland’s performance showed she has come a long way since the days when Fetzer said she was nervous before track meets as a sophomore.
Top Bulldog distance runner Daniel Simpkins placed fifth in the men’s 5K run, with a time of 14:55.46.
Simpkins, who said he knew the Tyson Invite would put his training methods to the test, earned the third-fastest 5K time in MSU history.
On Saturday, it was more of the same for Tavaris Tate. He finished fourth in the 200-meter dash in 20.96 seconds.
Schmidt said it was the cap to a fantastic meet for the freshman.
“Tate had an amazing weekend,” he said.
Competing in the 200-meter dash for the women was Taneisha Baker, who ran a personal best 24.57 seconds in the event, placing her third all-time in school history.
Fetzer said the strong weekend showed him much more than just who the fastest runners are.
“We definitely continued to make progress,” he said. “You want to see if folks step up or fold, and we stepped up.”