The University of Mississippi Athletics
Stringfellow to Compete Thursday in Spain
8/24/1999 | Track and Field
Aug. 24, 1999
OXFORD, Miss. -- Ole Miss junior Savante' Stringfellow will be competing Thursday evening in the preliminaries of the long jump at the 7th-annual World Track & Field Championships, which are being held in Seville, Spain. The finals are slated for Saturday evening. TBS will have late night/early morning coverage throughout the week, while NBC will televise the World Championships Saturday and Sunday afternoon.
This will be the second international competition of the year for the Jackson, Miss., native and Provine High School product. Stringfellow finished eighth in the long jump at the 13th-annual Pan American Games held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in late July.
"This is like the Super Bowl of track and field," said Ole Miss head track & field coach Joe Walker. "This is the biggest event of the year. The team consists of both amateurs and professionals. Savante's the youngest guy on the men's team, and we feel this is the first step of a long and great career as a collegian and eventually a professional." Stringfellow qualified for the both the Pan Am and World Championship teams by placing third in the long jump at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., back in June. He was the highest-finishing amateur at the event with a mark of 26-0 3/4.
This past spring as a sophomore, Stringfellow won the SEC long jump title on May 16 with a jump of 26-2 3/4. In early June, he finished third in the long jump at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Boise, Idaho, recording a mark of 26-7 1/4 and earning All-America honors.
Stringfellow is the third Ole Miss athlete to compete in the World Championships. Former Rebel standouts George Kersh ran in the 800 meters at the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, Japan, and Tony Dees competed in the 110-meter high hurdles at the 1993 World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.