Sports

Maroon and White runners shoot for gold

Brianna Walker, Contributing Writer • August 18, 2016

Two former Bulldogs with outstanding collegiate careers competed on the world’s biggest stage. Brandon McBride and Marta Freitas competed in the 800m and the 1500m races at the 2016 Summer Olympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Both runners were very successful while at Mississippi State University.

Brandon McBride, a native of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, was highly decorated in college. He is a three-time national

champion in the 800m run. Two of his national championships were won while at Mississippi State.

He set the Mike Sanders Track Complex record in the 800m run at 1:45.63. He ranked

the second-fastest collegiate time at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in

the 800m run at a school-record 1:44.50, was a member of the prestigious Bowerman Award watch list and is a nine-time All-American. Before heading to Rio to represent Canada, he

became Canada’s national champion in the 800m run with a time of 1:45.25.

McBride cruised through the preliminary run and qualified for the semifinal round while overshadowing the

competition with a time of 1:45.99. McBride’s run for gold came to an end Aug. 13. He finished sixth in the semifinal round in the 800m run with a time of 1:45.41.

Marta Freitas, a native of Lisbon, Portugal, was a very accomplished runner during her time at Mississippi State. She holds the third fastest time in the 1500m run with a time of 4:13.17. She became the SEC Mile Run champion with a finishing time of 4:38.21, won the SEC 1500m with a finishing time of 4:24.00, advanced to nationals with a personal best time of 4:13.17 in the 1500m run at the NCCA East Preliminaries, won the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field title in the 1500m run with a time of 4:09.53 and won a National Championship while at Mississippi State in the 800m run.

She qualified for the Olympics to represent Portugal in the

1500m run by coming in second at the Campionats de Catalunya in Barcelona with a school-record

time of 4:06.54. Freitas’ run for gold came to an end Aug. 12. She finished the 1500m run

slightly short of the semifinal round with a time of 4:18.53.

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