The University of Mississippi Athletics
Rebel Men’s DMR Finishes Eighth at Day One of NCAA Indoor Championships
3/8/2019 | Track and Field
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Derek Gutierrez and Waleed Suliman Also Qualified for Tomorrow’s Mile Final
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Ole Miss men's track & field continued to make waves on the national scene in the distance medley relay, finishing eighth for First-Team All-American honors to highlight the first day of the 2019 NCAA Indoor Championships on Friday night.
The Rebels, who have qualified for the national meet in the men's DMR in each of the last four seasons after qualifying just once prior in 1985 (seventh place), were part of a start-to-finish exciting DMR race this evening. Ole Miss finished at a time of 9:35.45, the sixth-best in school history. The Rebels showed off some versatility tonight as well, as all four Rebels on the relay were not part of the qualifying time of 9:34.43 from Feb. 15, and only freshman Mario Garcia Romo had run on a DMR team at all this season as part of the Rebel men's SEC title-winning relay two weeks ago (the fifth conference title in the men's DMR for Ole Miss in the last six seasons).
"I am extremely happy and proud of how well we ran tonight," said Ole Miss head coach Connie Price-Smith. "They showed a lot of heart and came out as All-Americans on the other side."
Sophomore Cade Bethmann, an alternate for the Ole Miss DMR at the national meet last season, led off for the Rebels tonight on a very fast 1200-meter leg, running the second-fastest 1200 split of the night at 2:55.46. Bethmann handed the baton to junior Andrew Raspo, who ran 48.30 on the 400-meter leg. Raspo handed off in fourth place to sophomore Griffin Riley, who clipped off a 1:51.21 on the 800-meter leg before Garcia Romo ran an impressive 4:00.49 on the final 1600-meter anchor leg.
That final lap was a thrilling one across the board, as seven squads hit or broke the four-minute barrier – including Ole Miss. Notre Dame, which entered with the second-best all-conditions DMR time in NCAA history, won by less than half a second over Stanford at 9:31.55.
Senior Derek Gutierrez and sophomore Waleed Suliman were members of the qualifying DMR team back in February, but both sat out after advancing through to tomorrow's mile final following a nail-biting prelim.
In the first heat, Suliman – the NCAA's No. 2 miler at his school record time of 3:56.78 – ran near the top of the pack for most of the race, leading at the 800-meter mark at a slower, more tactical pace of 2:14.21. With 400-meters to go, though, the pace for the whole pack picked up and Suliman briefly fell out of the top-four automatic qualifying slots. Suliman ran 26.74 over his final 200-meters, though, and was able to snag the fourth and final auto-qualifier spot in Heat One by less than two tenths of a second at 4:09.68.
Gutierrez, meanwhile, held an advantage in the second heat of knowing what time he needed to run to snare a time qualifier spot, which is exactly what the senior Texas native did. Gutierrez finished sixth in the second heat at 4:07.69, which registered as the second and final time qualifier accepted into tomorrow's final.
Ole Miss will enter tomorrow's mile final as the only school with multiple entries. No Rebel has ever scored in the NCAA Indoor men's mile final, and only one has ever qualified (Sean Tobin, 2018, 10th place). The Rebel men will enter Day Two tied for 29th place overall with one meet point scored from the DMR's eighth-place finish tonight.
The men's mile final will be run at 4:20 p.m. CT, and immediately following sophomore Shey Taiwo will represent the Rebel women in the weight throw finals at 4:30 p.m. CT.
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
The Rebels, who have qualified for the national meet in the men's DMR in each of the last four seasons after qualifying just once prior in 1985 (seventh place), were part of a start-to-finish exciting DMR race this evening. Ole Miss finished at a time of 9:35.45, the sixth-best in school history. The Rebels showed off some versatility tonight as well, as all four Rebels on the relay were not part of the qualifying time of 9:34.43 from Feb. 15, and only freshman Mario Garcia Romo had run on a DMR team at all this season as part of the Rebel men's SEC title-winning relay two weeks ago (the fifth conference title in the men's DMR for Ole Miss in the last six seasons).
"I am extremely happy and proud of how well we ran tonight," said Ole Miss head coach Connie Price-Smith. "They showed a lot of heart and came out as All-Americans on the other side."
Sophomore Cade Bethmann, an alternate for the Ole Miss DMR at the national meet last season, led off for the Rebels tonight on a very fast 1200-meter leg, running the second-fastest 1200 split of the night at 2:55.46. Bethmann handed the baton to junior Andrew Raspo, who ran 48.30 on the 400-meter leg. Raspo handed off in fourth place to sophomore Griffin Riley, who clipped off a 1:51.21 on the 800-meter leg before Garcia Romo ran an impressive 4:00.49 on the final 1600-meter anchor leg.
That final lap was a thrilling one across the board, as seven squads hit or broke the four-minute barrier – including Ole Miss. Notre Dame, which entered with the second-best all-conditions DMR time in NCAA history, won by less than half a second over Stanford at 9:31.55.
Senior Derek Gutierrez and sophomore Waleed Suliman were members of the qualifying DMR team back in February, but both sat out after advancing through to tomorrow's mile final following a nail-biting prelim.
In the first heat, Suliman – the NCAA's No. 2 miler at his school record time of 3:56.78 – ran near the top of the pack for most of the race, leading at the 800-meter mark at a slower, more tactical pace of 2:14.21. With 400-meters to go, though, the pace for the whole pack picked up and Suliman briefly fell out of the top-four automatic qualifying slots. Suliman ran 26.74 over his final 200-meters, though, and was able to snag the fourth and final auto-qualifier spot in Heat One by less than two tenths of a second at 4:09.68.
Gutierrez, meanwhile, held an advantage in the second heat of knowing what time he needed to run to snare a time qualifier spot, which is exactly what the senior Texas native did. Gutierrez finished sixth in the second heat at 4:07.69, which registered as the second and final time qualifier accepted into tomorrow's final.
Ole Miss will enter tomorrow's mile final as the only school with multiple entries. No Rebel has ever scored in the NCAA Indoor men's mile final, and only one has ever qualified (Sean Tobin, 2018, 10th place). The Rebel men will enter Day Two tied for 29th place overall with one meet point scored from the DMR's eighth-place finish tonight.
The men's mile final will be run at 4:20 p.m. CT, and immediately following sophomore Shey Taiwo will represent the Rebel women in the weight throw finals at 4:30 p.m. CT.
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
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