This weekend will show the MSU men’s and women’s track teams
exactly where they stand when they go up against some of the
toughest competition in the country. The No. 4 ranked men and the
20th ranked women travel to Gainesville, Fla., to take on the rest
of the conference in the 2003 SEC Indoor Championships.
On the men’s side, one of the best groups of sprinters in the
nation will try to lead the squad to its highest ever finish.
Head coach Al Schmidt said, “I think on the men’s side we should
be in the hunt for the championship. Some things are going to have
to go our way, but we should be in striking distance hopefully. On
the men’s side we’re the fourth SEC team ranked nationally, but I
think anything can happen. You gotta have luck, but you have to
perform too.”
A handful of records have already fallen this year on the men’s
side. Junior Marquis Davis holds the school record in the
200-meters and is tied with senior Pierre Brown for the record in
the 60-meter event.
“I hope to come out with a win at this meet. I’m ranked No. 1 in
the 200 right now so I’m looking forward to going into the races
and doing my business,” Davis said. “We have to get everybody
qualified and staying focused so we can try to come out with a team
championship.”
Along with Brown and Davis, seniors Chris Boldt, Dion Crabbe and
Kelvin Harris have all earned provisional qualifiers for the NCAA
championships and will be looking to improve their times and help
the team to a win down in Gainesville. Boldt will be looking for
his first points ever in an SEC championship race and is the top
distance runner on the men’s side.
“If you can score in the SEC meet you can score in the national
meet because the level of competition is so high,” Boldt said.
“We’re just looking to go in there and pull out a top three finish
and maybe even a championship. I think I have a good chance of
going top three in the mile, and anything can happen when you get
to Sunday.”
The women’s squad is very young and will be looking to gain
experience in this year’s meet. Led by a solid distance squad, a
finish in the top six would make Schmidt very happy.
“On the women’s side we’re hoping to finish in the top half of
the conference,” Schmidt said. “The women are the sixth SEC team in
the top 20 so that gives us an idea of what place we’re in going
into this meet.”
Pacing the women this year is sophomore Tiffany McWilliams.
This has been a breakout year in which McWilliams has already
broken the school record in the 800-meter, mile and 3,000-meter
races. She is also the anchor leg of the distance medley relay team
that currently holds the school record.
“I hope to run a competitive and strong race this weekend. I
think we have a really good and young women’s team,” McWilliams
said. “This is the first SEC championship meet for a lot of the
ladies so I think this will be good experience for them. This will
prepare me for the NCAAs because there are a lot of good runners
from Arkansas, and they are right up there with me.”
Joining McWilliams will be fellow sophomore distance runner
Meggan Hodge, who is the top 5,000-meter runner for the school.
Le’Kisha Barnaby-Pope is the top sprinter and could be a factor in
the meet as a senior this year. While the women are young, they are
talented, and finishing in the top half of the conference would be
a huge boost for them in the future.
Schmidt said they want to leave their expectations high, and
that is something that will help these teams this weekend. The men
have a chance to do something really special this year, and the SEC
meet will help bring them one step closer to their goals of a
national championship.