Four Rebels Advance At NCAA Championships

SACREMENTO, Calif. Two-time All-American John Yarbrough has his eyes set on a national title. On Wednesday Yarbrough moved closer to that goal with a dominating performance in the 110-meter hurdles at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Yarbrough won the prelims of the high hurdles with a time of 13.45, easily beating Auburn’s Ty Adkins, who finished in 13.52. Adkins is the last person to defeat Yarbrough, besting him at the SEC Championships. Yarbrough revenged that defeat by beating Adkins at the NCAA MidEast Regional.

Yarbrough, who finished fifth in the 110 hurdles last season, followed his prelim performance with another win the semifinals. The No. 1 ranked hurdler in the nation bested 17 other runners with a time of 13.51. He now advances to Friday’s finals along with 8 other athletes.

“John (Yarbrough) ran a great pair of races,” said Ole Miss head coach Joe Walker. “He looked so easy running. He didn’t have a good start in the semifinals that slowed him up a little, but he set himself up great for the finals.”

Junior Kenyata Coleman once again broke her own school record as she advanced to the semifinals of the women’s 400 meters. Coleman turned in a time of 52.19, which was the second fastest time in the prelims. She bested her previous record of 52.28 set just two weeks ago at the NCAA MidEast Regional. Coleman will compete on Friday in the semifinals for a chance to advance to the finals on Saturday.

“Kenyata (Coleman) ran an almost perfect race,” said Walker. “She ran it like you would draw it up on paper. I think she has the strength to run all three rounds.”

Sophomore Britney Reese advanced to the finals in the women’s long jump with a mark of 21-04.00. It was the third-best jump of the prelims. Reese, the SEC indoor and outdoor long jump champion, will compete on Thursday in the finals. The All-American is ranked second in the nation in the long jump with a mark of 21-11.75, behind UCLA’s Rhonda Watkins, who also advanced.

Sophomore Barnabas Kirui also advanced to the finals in the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase. Kirui, a four-time SEC champion, finished second in the prelims with a time of 8:39.97. Kirui, who is ranked No. 1 steeplechase this season, will compete in the finals on Friday.

Rebel long jumpers Charles Bailey and Justin Gunn failed to advance to the finals. Gunn, who tied for the best mark at the NCAA MidEast Regional, turned in a mark of 24-06.50 to finish 14th. Bailey, the SEC Outdoor long jump champion, fouled on his first two attempts before posting a mark of 23-08.75 and finished 21st. The top 12 marks plus ties advance to the finals. Gunn finished with a season-best mark of 24-11.00, while Bailey’s best jump of the season was 25-07.00.

The Lady Rebel quartet of Kadeshia Fortune, Cachet Murray, Kim Mulkey, Kenyata Coleman finished 11th in the prelims of the women’s 4x100-meter relay. The top eight relays advance to the finals. The team broke the school record earlier this season with a time of 44.49, turned in at the SEC Championships.

Competition at the NCAA Outdoor Championships continues on Thursday with the women’s long jump.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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