The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Tracksters Advance At NCAA Meet Thursday
5/30/2002 | Track and Field
May 30, 2002
BATON ROUGE, La. - The Ole Miss track and field squads had a good showing on the opening day of the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships held at Bernie Moore Track on the campus of LSU. The Rebel 4x100-meter relay team and freshman hurdler Antwon Hicks advanced to Friday's competition.
Hicks, a Hot Springs, Ark., native, ran a personal best 13.59 in the preliminary round of the 110-meter hurdles on Thursday to advance to Friday's semifinals. The time was the second best time of the day, right behind last year's NCAA winner Ron Bramlett of Alabama who clocked in at 13.54.
"I felt really good out there today," said Hicks. "I was a little nervous running in my first NCAA meet, but I just went out and ran my race."
Ole Miss head coach Joe Walker said, "Antwon showed just what kind of champion he is in his race today. Not many people set personal bests at the NCAA meet, but he was not intimidated and just ran hard."
The Rebel 4x100-meter relay team composed of freshmen Chris Lawson and Taye Biddle and sophomores Kendrick Triggs and James Shelton recorded the sixth fastest time in the preliminary rounds and advanced to Friday's finals with their time of 39.66.
"We had a pretty good run," said Biddle, who is also a member of the Rebel football team. "We have yet to run our best race, but we are looking forward to doing that on Friday."
Ole Miss freshman long jumper Shantel Glass did not advance to finals, finishing 11th with his mark of 24-9. Junior sprinter Willisa Heintz competed in the 200 meters (23.47), but did not advance to the finals.
Ole Miss will continue at the track Friday, as junior thrower Stacy Andrews competes in the discus throw at 4 p.m. The Rebel 4x100-meter relay team will run finals at 7 p.m., while Hicks will run semifinals in the 110-meter hurdles at 8:20 p.m.