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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Track and Field to Compete in Three Meets this Weekend
6/21/1999 | Track and Field
April 9, 1998
OXFORD, Miss. -- The Ole Miss men's and women's track and field teams will split up to compete in three separate meets on Saturday, Apr. 11. Both teams were recently ranked in the United States Track Coaches Association (USTCA) polls, with the men's team ranked No. 13 and the Lady Rebels No. 21.
Sophomore Tisha Parker and junior Latoria Jordan of the Lady Rebel squad will travel to El Paso, Texas, to participate in the Sierra Providence/UTEP Invitational, while junior Bernie Kuria, sophomore Thomas Blackwell and freshman Chad Dixon will compete at the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn. The rest of the squads will travel to New Orleans, La., to participate in the Tulane Relays.
"We are sending our athletes to different meets so that they can have the best opportunities to qualify for the NCAA Championships in their events," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Walker. "We had a good meet last Saturday, and we are continuing to build momentum toward the SEC Championships in late May. Some of our athletes are still a little banged up, but those participating in the three meets on Saturday will be ready to compete."
Parker and Jordan will participate in the long and triple jumps at the UTEP Invitational. Parker has already qualified provisionally for the NCAA Championships in the long jump with a mark of 21-2, just missing the automatic qualification mark of 21-4. Parker's 21-2 mark in the long jump is the best mark in the Southeastern Conference so far this season. Jordan has the best triple jump mark for the Lady Rebels this season at 39-1, which also the sixth best triple jump in the SEC.
At the Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Kuria, Blackwell and Dixon will compete in the distance events. Last Saturday, Kuria won the 5000 meters with a time of 14:34.73, while Dixon was first in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:28.45. Kuria's time in the 5000 meters and Dixon's time in the 3000-meter steeplechase both are the third best marks in the SEC. Blackwell has the sixth best time in the steeplechase in the SEC at 9:54.47.
The remainder of the Rebel and Lady Rebel teams will participate in the Tulane Relays. The jumps have been the strongest part of both squads in the early part of the season. On the men's side, junior Marcus Jones set an Ole Miss school record in the high jump last Saturday with a mark of 7-0 Ohm. His high jump mark is tied for tops in the conference, while freshman Savante' Stringfellow has the league's sixth best high jump (6-9).
For the Lady Rebels, freshman Emily Fontenot also set a school record in the high jump with a mark of 5-10 in last Saturday's Ole Miss Invitational. Fontenot also provisionally qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships with her mark of 5-10. In the sprints, freshman Willie Moore will be counted on to lead the men's squad. Moore won both the 100 and 200 meters last Saturday and holds the Rebels' top times in both events this season.
Following the meets this Saturday, the Ole Miss men's and women's squads will return to action on April 18 when they travel to Starkville to compete in the Mississippi State Invitational.
