The University of Mississippi Athletics
Reese Makes Olympic Debut Monday Night
8/17/2008 | Track and Field
OXFORD, Miss. Former Ole Miss All-American long jumper Brittney Reese takes part in her first career competition in the Summer Olympics as she will compete in the long jump qualifying round Monday evening at 8:40 p.m. (CT) from Beijing. The top 12 jumpers advance into the finals, which are slated to take place Friday.
NBC area affiliates are set to broadcast coverage of the qualifying rounds Tuesday beginning at 11 a.m. CT and the finals Friday at 7 p.m.
Reese, the first female track and field athlete in school history to compete in the Olympic Games, will also attempt to become the school's second track and field athlete to claim a medal. Former Rebel great Tony Dees won a silver medal in the 110 meter hurdles in Barcelona in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
Reese took part in a pair of preparatory meets earlier this summer against some of the top competition in the world. In late July, Reese finished second at the DN Galan meet with a mark of 22-03.75, falling only to the world indoor long jump champion. Reese went on to also claim second place just over two weeks ago with a distance of 22-02.25 at the Herculis Meet.
The Gulfport, Miss., native is coming off arguably the greatest individual season in school history as she opened and finished the season as the world's top American long jumper in 2008. Over the course of the year, Reese won the long jump individual title a total of seven times, claiming the championship in every meet in which she competed.
She also won two individual high jump titles, set four meet records and set four facility records. Included in her individual championships were two NCAA titles and two SEC championships in the long jump. In fact, Reese won the Commissioner's Trophy for the most points scored at both the SEC Indoor and Outdoor Championships. Reese also set the school record in the long jump (22-09.75), high jump (6-00.60) and triple jump (43-02.25) at various points during the season.
Following the completion of the season, Reese reeled in numerous conference and national honors, including her selection as National Women's Field Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. In addition, Reese was named SEC Female Field Athlete of the Year and the USTFCCA South Region Female Field Athlete of the Year. She was also named SEC Female Field Athlete of the Week on two different occasions and earned All-MidEast Region Team, All-SEC First Team accolades and was an NCAA All-American in the long jump.
