The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels, Lady Rebels Set To Host Ole Miss Invitational Saturday
4/29/2004 | Track and Field
April 29, 2004
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss track and field teams will play host to the Ole Miss Invitational on Saturday, as their final tune-up prior to hosting the 2004 SEC Outdoor Championships on May 13-16.
The Ole Miss Invitational will be held at the Ole Miss Track and Field Complex and is slated to begin at Noon with the women's hammer throw and the men's javelin competitions. The meet will conclude with the running of the men's 5,000 meters at 7:15 p.m.
In addition the Rebels and Lady Rebels, Southeastern Conference rivals Mississippi State and Alabama are scheduled to compete at the Ole Miss Invitational, along with Memphis, Tulane, Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, Louisiana-Monroe, Southeastern Louisiana and Arkansas-Little Rock.
"We are looking forward to this meet," said Ole Miss head coach Joe Walker. "This will be the best meet we host at our place before the SEC Championships come to town. There are some great competitors in this field and we are going to be working on fine-tuning some things of our own in the process."
The Rebels have been led during the outdoor season by a strong group of 400-meter runners. Led by senior Franz Bernard, Ole Miss has three men qualified for the NCAA Regional meet in the event. Freshman Kao Wokoma and junior Demondrick Shumaker have posted regional qualifying marks and the trio has teamed with sophomore Mark Gregory to post a regional qualifying time in the 4x400-meter relay, as well. Junior Brandon Atkinson has led the Rebels on the field. Atkinson has turned in a regional qualifying mark in the triple jump.
The Lady Rebels are led on the track by sophomore Rachel Ellison in the middle distance events. Ellison has posted an NCAA Regional qualifying time in the 1,500 meters and is very near qualifying in the 800 meters. Junior LaToya McBride has posted an NCAA provisional mark in the heptathlon and will compete on Saturday in individual events.