The MSU men’s and women’s track team went to the Rod McCray Invitational this past weekend looking for success, and came back with a couple of records and a few NCAA qualifiers.
On the men’s side, junior sprinter Marquis Davis led the way with a stellar performance on the final day of competition. Davis won the 60-meter dash with a 6.61 second mark, which was good enough to break teammate Pierre Brown’s record from three weeks earlier. Davis was not satisfied with one record; he wanted another one. Later in the day Marquis won the 200-meter event with a time of 20.72, a time that broke his old record from the championships last year. Both performances were good enough to provisionally qualify Davis for the indoor championships.
Senior Chris Boldt tallied a time of 4:04.45 in the mile run, which earned him a qualifying time for the first time in his career. Boldt placed third in the event on Saturday. Other notable performances on the men’s side were given by LaChristopher Lewis, who won the 400-meter race, and by Glenn McFadden, who finished second in the 200-meters.
On the women’s side the headline was once again the performance of sophomore Tiffany McWilliams. McWilliams won the 3000-meter race with a time of 9:26.89. This gave her a provisional qualification, and it also set a school record in the event. McWilliams also earned another qualification when she anchored the distance medley relay team. McWilliams, along with Jennifer McPherson, Nicole Dunn, and Zita Magloire, won the event with a time of 11:18.04. Not only was this good enough for a school record, but it was also 15 seconds ahead of the stadium record time set by Florida in 1996.
“Each day we’re getting better,” said head coach Al Schmidt. “We’re really pleased with our performances in this meet. Marquis really stepped up today. We’re still on target to hit our goals for the year.”
Both teams will look to continue their success at the Tyson Invitational this weekend, February 14-15 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Bulldogs will then take two weeks off before heading to Gainesville, Fla., for the SEC Indoor Championships on March 1-2.