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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Four Rebels Punch Tickets to Nationals After Splendid Day Two of NCAA East Regional
5/24/2019 | Track and Field
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Ole Miss Now With Five Total Qualified for NCAA Outdoor Championships
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Ole Miss track & field put together a spectacular second day of the NCAA East Regional on Friday, punching four additional tickets to the national meet amid several impressive performances.
Senior Lindsey Murray (women's pole vault), sophomores John Rivera Jr. (men's 800-meter) and Lisa Vogelgesang (women's 3000-meter steeplechase) and freshman Brandee Presley (women's 100-meter dash) will now join the growing group of Rebels that will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas on June 5-8.
"I was extremely proud of the way our athletes competed today," said Ole Miss head coach Connie Price-Smith. "Having Brandee make it to the final round is huge. I was excited to see some other freshmen like Kenney (Broadnax) and Jayda (Eckford) make it to the next round tomorrow, and I am super proud of John, Lindsey, Lisa and all our national qualifiers for the performances they put in today. This is a really young team, too, so these kinds of accomplishments will be so important going forward."
One of the several impressive performances today was also a meaningful one for Murray, who has now qualified for the national meet seven times in eight tries throughout her career indoors and outdoors – failing to do so just once outdoors her freshman season at Southern Illinois (ironically, at the University of Texas for the 2015 NCAA West Regional).
Murray was smooth and efficient on Friday, clearing all three of her bars on first attempts – the best of which was 4.17m (13-08.25) that put her into a tie for first on the day.
"This meet is very hard," Murray said. "You can't screw up, or you're not going to nationals. I treated it like I've always treated it. I just wanted to go clean through the whole day. Once I realized I was over the (final) bar, it was a relief."
Vogelgesang was equally as methodical, running a consistent race in the second heat of the women's steeplechase to punch her first career ticket to the national meet. After sitting near the top pack for much of the race, the German native unleashed the fastest lap of the heat on her final 400 at 1:15.54 – ending with a seven-second PR of 9:59.82 to finish second in her heat and punch an automatic qualifier ticket to Austin. That time falls less than one second off of Shelby Brown's 2018 school record of 9:58.98.
"I think it works better for me going a little bit slower, and then I can close fast," Vogelgesang said. "I tried to let the front group go, but not too far away. I felt pretty good, so I moved up, but not too fast. I was pretty comfortable I could get third, but I didn't want to move too soon and regret it. So with a lap to go, I decided to move."
Things were a bit more dramatic for the other two Rebel qualifiers on Friday. Presley, who added onto an already impressive freshman campaign with a massive PR of 11.37 in the prelims on Thursday, claimed the final time qualifier slot to Austin with an 11.38 (+0.1) as the fourth-place finisher in Heat One.
Presley's PR from Thursday stands as the fastest non wind-aided time at Ole Miss since 2000 and also ranks No. 4 on the American junior list and No. 10 on the world junior list for 2019.
"I'm relieved, there was so much pressure, but I got the last spot now," Pressley said. "I knew that if I could execute my start, everything would follow suit."
Drama hung around for the Rebels not long after with Rivera in the men's 800-meter quarterfinals. The sophomore Florida native was near the back of the pack at the bell, but Rivera dropped the hammer and clocked a 56.56 last 400, edging so close to the top-three and an automatic qualifier to Austin, but settling for fourth in Heat One at 1:49.83.
After waiting around for two heats, Rivera finally found out that his time was good enough to snag one of the final tickets to Austin.
"Just being here on basically a home track for me, it's unbelievable," Rivera said. "I'm over the moon right now. Being that close (to elimination), you don't want to be there. I'm just happy to get through and go to Austin and hopefully make something special happen."
Ole Miss also received two dynamite first round performances on the track from freshmen Jayda Eckford in the women's 200-meter dash and Kenney Broadnax in the men's 110-meter hurdles.
Eckford, who is also a member of the Rebel 4x100-meter relay team that runs tomorrow, clocked yet another impressive PR in the 200 at 23.19 (+1.1) – earning an auto qualifier spot to tomorrow's quarterfinal after finishing second in Heat Four.
That time ranks fourth all-time at Ole Miss and is also the fastest under a 2.0 wind reading since Willisa Heintz ran 23.14 (+0.9) in 2002. Eckford's time today also puts her No. 5 in the United States and No. 9 worldwide among junior athletes.
Broadnax improved for the second straight meet in the hurdles, snagging a time qualifier spot to tomorrow's quarterfinal after running 13.97 (+0.9) in today's first round races.
Junior Kieshonna Brooks nearly made it into the women's 100-meter hurdles quarterfinals as well, but came up heartbreakingly short for the second straight day. Less than 24 hours after falling one centimeter short of punching her ticket to Austin in the long jump, Brooks fell two hundredths of a second shy with a time of 13.52 – thus ending an excellent junior campaign for the native of Saint Kitts & Nevis.
Competition picks up for Ole Miss at the final day of the NCAA East Regional at 3 p.m. CT with national long jump qualifier Allen Gordon competing in the men's high jump.
Day Two National Qualifiers
Brandee Presley – Women's 100-Meter Dash
Lindsey Murray – Women's Pole Vault
John Rivera Jr. – Men's 800-Meter
Lisa Vogelgesang – Women's 3000-Meter Steeplechase
Day Two Quarterfinalists
Kenney Broadnax – Men's 110-Meter Hurdles
Jayda Eckford – Women's 200-Meter Dash
Day One National Qualifiers
Allen Gordon – Men's Long Jump
Day One Quarterfinalists
Dalton Hengst – Men's 1500-Meter
Brandee Presley – Women's 100-Meter
Griffin Riley – Men's 800-Meter
John Rivera Jr. – Men's 800-Meter
Waleed Suliman – Men's 1500-Meter
OTHER REBELS IN COMPETITION
Women's Discus
20. Shey Taiwo – 51.05m (167-06) – PR, 5th all-time
27. Tedreauna Britt – 49.01m (160-09)
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
Senior Lindsey Murray (women's pole vault), sophomores John Rivera Jr. (men's 800-meter) and Lisa Vogelgesang (women's 3000-meter steeplechase) and freshman Brandee Presley (women's 100-meter dash) will now join the growing group of Rebels that will compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas on June 5-8.
"I was extremely proud of the way our athletes competed today," said Ole Miss head coach Connie Price-Smith. "Having Brandee make it to the final round is huge. I was excited to see some other freshmen like Kenney (Broadnax) and Jayda (Eckford) make it to the next round tomorrow, and I am super proud of John, Lindsey, Lisa and all our national qualifiers for the performances they put in today. This is a really young team, too, so these kinds of accomplishments will be so important going forward."
One of the several impressive performances today was also a meaningful one for Murray, who has now qualified for the national meet seven times in eight tries throughout her career indoors and outdoors – failing to do so just once outdoors her freshman season at Southern Illinois (ironically, at the University of Texas for the 2015 NCAA West Regional).
Murray was smooth and efficient on Friday, clearing all three of her bars on first attempts – the best of which was 4.17m (13-08.25) that put her into a tie for first on the day.
"This meet is very hard," Murray said. "You can't screw up, or you're not going to nationals. I treated it like I've always treated it. I just wanted to go clean through the whole day. Once I realized I was over the (final) bar, it was a relief."
Vogelgesang was equally as methodical, running a consistent race in the second heat of the women's steeplechase to punch her first career ticket to the national meet. After sitting near the top pack for much of the race, the German native unleashed the fastest lap of the heat on her final 400 at 1:15.54 – ending with a seven-second PR of 9:59.82 to finish second in her heat and punch an automatic qualifier ticket to Austin. That time falls less than one second off of Shelby Brown's 2018 school record of 9:58.98.
"I think it works better for me going a little bit slower, and then I can close fast," Vogelgesang said. "I tried to let the front group go, but not too far away. I felt pretty good, so I moved up, but not too fast. I was pretty comfortable I could get third, but I didn't want to move too soon and regret it. So with a lap to go, I decided to move."
Things were a bit more dramatic for the other two Rebel qualifiers on Friday. Presley, who added onto an already impressive freshman campaign with a massive PR of 11.37 in the prelims on Thursday, claimed the final time qualifier slot to Austin with an 11.38 (+0.1) as the fourth-place finisher in Heat One.
Presley's PR from Thursday stands as the fastest non wind-aided time at Ole Miss since 2000 and also ranks No. 4 on the American junior list and No. 10 on the world junior list for 2019.
"I'm relieved, there was so much pressure, but I got the last spot now," Pressley said. "I knew that if I could execute my start, everything would follow suit."
Drama hung around for the Rebels not long after with Rivera in the men's 800-meter quarterfinals. The sophomore Florida native was near the back of the pack at the bell, but Rivera dropped the hammer and clocked a 56.56 last 400, edging so close to the top-three and an automatic qualifier to Austin, but settling for fourth in Heat One at 1:49.83.
After waiting around for two heats, Rivera finally found out that his time was good enough to snag one of the final tickets to Austin.
"Just being here on basically a home track for me, it's unbelievable," Rivera said. "I'm over the moon right now. Being that close (to elimination), you don't want to be there. I'm just happy to get through and go to Austin and hopefully make something special happen."
Ole Miss also received two dynamite first round performances on the track from freshmen Jayda Eckford in the women's 200-meter dash and Kenney Broadnax in the men's 110-meter hurdles.
Eckford, who is also a member of the Rebel 4x100-meter relay team that runs tomorrow, clocked yet another impressive PR in the 200 at 23.19 (+1.1) – earning an auto qualifier spot to tomorrow's quarterfinal after finishing second in Heat Four.
That time ranks fourth all-time at Ole Miss and is also the fastest under a 2.0 wind reading since Willisa Heintz ran 23.14 (+0.9) in 2002. Eckford's time today also puts her No. 5 in the United States and No. 9 worldwide among junior athletes.
Broadnax improved for the second straight meet in the hurdles, snagging a time qualifier spot to tomorrow's quarterfinal after running 13.97 (+0.9) in today's first round races.
Junior Kieshonna Brooks nearly made it into the women's 100-meter hurdles quarterfinals as well, but came up heartbreakingly short for the second straight day. Less than 24 hours after falling one centimeter short of punching her ticket to Austin in the long jump, Brooks fell two hundredths of a second shy with a time of 13.52 – thus ending an excellent junior campaign for the native of Saint Kitts & Nevis.
Competition picks up for Ole Miss at the final day of the NCAA East Regional at 3 p.m. CT with national long jump qualifier Allen Gordon competing in the men's high jump.
Day Two National Qualifiers
Brandee Presley – Women's 100-Meter Dash
Lindsey Murray – Women's Pole Vault
John Rivera Jr. – Men's 800-Meter
Lisa Vogelgesang – Women's 3000-Meter Steeplechase
Day Two Quarterfinalists
Kenney Broadnax – Men's 110-Meter Hurdles
Jayda Eckford – Women's 200-Meter Dash
Day One National Qualifiers
Allen Gordon – Men's Long Jump
Day One Quarterfinalists
Dalton Hengst – Men's 1500-Meter
Brandee Presley – Women's 100-Meter
Griffin Riley – Men's 800-Meter
John Rivera Jr. – Men's 800-Meter
Waleed Suliman – Men's 1500-Meter
OTHER REBELS IN COMPETITION
Women's Discus
20. Shey Taiwo – 51.05m (167-06) – PR, 5th all-time
27. Tedreauna Britt – 49.01m (160-09)
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
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