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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebels Set For NCAA Indoor Championships
3/7/2012 | Track and Field
March 7, 2012
NCAA Championships Central
OXFORD, Miss. - The Ole Miss track and field team will be sending six athletes westward this weekend to compete in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held in Nampa, Idaho, hosted by Boise State University.
Events are scheduled to begin Friday and will run through Saturday.
"We are really excited and feel like all of our athletes have a chance to have a great national meet," Rebel head coach Joe Walker said. "We are fit, focused and ready."
Headlining this year's NCAA group is junior All-American Ricky Robertson. The Hernando, Miss., native was recently selected as the 2012 SEC Indoor Field Athlete of the Year after winning his third straight SEC indoor high jump title last month. He enters his third NCAA Indoor Championships ranked fifth nationally (7-4.5) in the high jump and will also compete in the triple jump where he ranks 15th in the country (51-11).
Other Rebels that are set to compete at the NCAA Championships include junior All-American Mike Granger, senior All-American long jumper Caleb Lee and senior sprinter Isiah Young for the No. 20 nationally ranked Rebel men, along with sophomore pentathlete Fabia McDonald and junior pole vaulter Neal Tisher for the women.
The total of six athletes is the most ever sent by Ole Miss to the NCAA Indoor Championships for individual events.
Last year, the Rebel men finished 11th in the nation at the NCAA Indoor Championships, while the Rebel women concluded the season ranked 23rd. Both teams look to build off those results this weekend.
Granger earned a runner-up finish in the 60 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships last year. He also finished second in the event at this year's SEC Indoor Championships, clocking a season-best 6.63. He currently ranks 11th in the nation in the event.
This weekend marks Lee's second NCAA Indoor Championships. He currently ranks 13th nationally in the long jump with his season-best mark of 25-3.25 occurring at the Tyson Invitational.
Young will be participating in his first NCAA Indoor Championships. The former Allen Community College product ranks ninth nationally in the 60 meters with his personal-best time of 6.62 (Tyson Invitational), which ranks him fourth-best in school history in the event.
On the women's side, McDonald, last year's SEC Female Freshman Field Athlete of the Year for the indoor season, ranks 14th nationally in the pentathlon. She will be participating in her first NCAA Indoor Championships after breaking her previous school record in the event at this year's SEC Indoor Championships with a total of 4,005 points.
Tisher will enter her first NCAA Indoor Championships following a performance at the Alabama High Tide Qualifier last weekend, where she broke her previous school record in the pole vault. Jumping a height of 13-11 at the NCAA Last Chance Meet in Birmingham, Tisher heads to Nampa ranked 12th nationally in the event.
Lee will be the first Rebel to begin competition on Friday when the men's long jump gets underway at its scheduled start of 5:15 p.m. Mountain time (6:15 CT). The men's 60 meter prelims are also Friday evening. Every other event that includes an Ole Miss athlete will take place on Saturday.
ESPN3 will stream the meet live on Friday from 6:30-10:45 p.m. CT and Saturday from 7-10:15 p.m. CT. A tape delay of the championship will air Sunday, March 18 at 6:30 p.m. CT on ESPNU.
NCAA.com and broncosports.com will stream what ESPN3 is not covering on Friday (11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. CT) and Saturday (11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. CT).
