The University of Mississippi Athletics
Aldridge, Coleman Advance To NCAA Championships
3/7/2006 | Track and Field
March 7, 2006
OXFORD, Miss. - Ole Miss senior Marquita Aldridge and sophomore Kenyata Coleman have advanced to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, which begin on Friday.
Aldridge, a West Memphis, Ark. native, will compete in the long jump, having finished second in the event at the SEC Indoor Championships earlier this season. The school record holder in the long jump, Aldridge was also a member of the Lady Rebel's 4x400 meter relay team, which set a school record and provisionally qualified for the championships. Aldridge is currently ranked 13th in the nation in the long jump.
Coleman, a Brookhaven, Miss. native, will run in the 400 meters at the championships and is the school recorder in that event. She placed seventh in the 400 meters at the SEC Indoor Championships and is currently ranked 13th in the country. Coleman is also a member of the 4x400 meter relay team.
Five Lady Rebels and three Rebels had provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships. Marquita Aldridge, Kenyata Coleman, Sirdonea Davis and Cachet Murray provisionally qualified in the 4x400 meter relay. Aldridge, Coleman and Murray also provisionally qualified in the long jump, 400-meters and 60-meters, respectively. Sophomore Francis Vital also provisionally qualified in the long jump and pentathlon. Shannon Chandler set a school record in the 3,000 meters.
Freshman Barnabas Kuiri (5,000 meters), junior Ed McCall (long jump) and junior John Yarbrough (60 meter hurdles) all earned NCAA provisional qualifying marks this season. In addition, Kuiri and fellow Rebel Derek McGuire both set school records in the 3,000 meters and the shot put, respectively.
The 2006 NCAA Indoor Championships will begin on March 10 in Fayetteville, Ark., and will be hosted by the University of Arkansas.
