The University of Mississippi Athletics
Friday, July 19
San Jose, Costa Rica
All Day
Ole Miss
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Pan American U20 Outdoor Championships
Photo by: Nate Barrett Photography
Rebel Freshmen Ready for World Stage at Pan American U20 Championships
7/18/2019 | Track and Field
Competition Runs July 19-21
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica – After a series of demonstrative performances at the USATF U20 Outdoor Championships last month, four Rebel freshmen – Joseph Benedetto, Tedreauna Britt, Jayda Eckford and Brandee Presley – will represent Team USA at the 20th Pan American U20 Outdoor Championships in Costa Rica this weekend.
The junior championships feature athletes aged 14-20 from countries within North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. The first championship meet was held in 1980 in Sudbury, Canada, with subsequent meets in 1982 (Barquisimeto, Venezuela), 1984 (Nassau, Bahamas), 1986 (Winter Park, Florida), 1989 (Santa Fe, Argentina), 1991 (Kingston, Jamaica), 1993 (Winnipeg, Canada), 1995 (Santiago, Chile), 1997 (Havana, Cuba), 1999 (Tampa, Florida), 2001 (Santa Fe, Argentina), 2003 (Bridgetown, Barbados), 2005 (Windsor, Canada), 2007 (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 2009 (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago), 2011 (Miramar, Florida), 2013 (Medellin, Colombia), 2015 (Edmonton, Canada) and 2017 (Trujillo, Peru).
Prior to this year, only four Rebels had ever qualified to compete at the Pan American U20 Championships in Ole Miss history: James Shelton, who won a gold medal on Team USA's 4x100-meter relay while also winning a bronze in the 100-meter dash in 1999; Kendrick Triggs in the 200-meter dash in 2001; and Carmia Carroll in the high jump in 2005.
Competition begins for the Rebels with freshman Joseph Benedetto in the men's hammer final at 10:10 a.m. CT on Friday. Read below for a full competition schedule and more about each Rebel qualifier.
Competition Schedule (All Times CT)
Friday, July 19
10:10 AM – Joseph Benedetto, Men's Hammer Final
10:30 AM – Brandee Presley, Women's 100-Meter Semifinal
6:10 PM – Tedreauna Britt, Women's Shot Put Final
8:50 PM – Brandee Presley, Women's 100-Meter Final (if qualified)
Saturday, July 20
4:00 PM – Tedreauna Britt, Women's Discus Final
5:00 PM – Brandee Presley, Women's 4x100-Meter Relay Semifinal
6:40 PM – Jayda Eckford, Women's 200-Meter Semifinal
8:30 PM – Jayda Eckford, Women's 200-Meter Final (if qualified)
10:40 PM – Brandee Presley, Women's 4x100-Meter Relay Final (if qualified)
Joseph Benedetto | Men's Hammer
Date / Time: Fri., July 19 / 10:10 a.m. CT
Hometown / High School: Middletown, N.Y. / John S. Burke Catholic
Personal Best (Collegiate Hammer): 59.36m (194-09) // May 9, 2019; SEC Outdoor Championships // 7th all-time at Ole Miss
Season Best (Collegiate Hammer): 59.36m (194-09)
Personal Best (6kg Junior Hammer): 66.99m (219-09) // Winning throw at U.S. U20 Championships
Season Best (6kg Junior Hammer): 66.99m (219-09)
Seed Mark: 6
Quick Facts: U.S. U20 Champion in the men's hammer … NCAA East Region qualifier … Ranks seventh all-time at Ole Miss … Current PR was a five-foot improvement at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Brandee Presley | Women's 100-Meter Dash | Women's 4x100-Meter Relay
100-Meter Prelims: Fri., July 19, 10:30 a.m. CT
100-Meter Finals: Fri., July 19, 8:50 p.m. CT
4x100-Meter Prelims: Sat., July 20, 5:00 p.m. CT
4x100-Meter Finals: Sat., July 20, 10:40 p.m. CT
Hometown / High School: Bixby, Okla. / Bixby HS
100-Meter Personal Best: 11.19 (+2.0) // June 22, 2019; U.S. U20 Championships Finals // School Record
100-Meter Season Best: 11.19 (+2.0)
100-Meter Seed Mark: 2
100-Meter U.S. U20 Rank: 3
100-Meter U.S. Overall Rank: T-45
100-Meter World U20 Rank: T-6
Quick Facts: U.S. U20 Champion in the women's 100-meter … Alongside Tedreauna Britt, will become one of the first two Rebel women to double at the Pan American U20 meet … Broke school record twice in span of two hours, winning the U.S. title at 11.19 (+2.0) … Broke record in prelims as well at 11.23 (+3.1) … First Rebel to ever break 11.20 at any wind reading … Fastest time at U.S. U20 meet since 2016 (Candace Hill, 11.09/+1.9), fastest winning time since 2014 (Kaylin Whitney, 11.10/+0.9) … Earned Second-Team All-American honors in the 100-meter, finishing 12th overall … Also ran on the school-record women's 4x100-meter relay team (43.45) that finished with Second-Team All-American honors in 12th place at the NCAA Championships … Entered NCAA East Regional ranked No. 43 … First Rebel women to qualify in the NCAA 100-meter since Jones in 2001 … Owns the Oklahoma high school state record at 11.44 ... Broke 12 seconds in the 100 each year she was in high school.
Tedreauna Britt | Women's Discus | Women's Shot Put
Shot Put Finals: Fri., July 19, 6:10 p.m. CT
Discus Finals: Sat., July 20, 4:00 p.m. CT
Hometown / High School: St. George, S.C. / Woodland HS
Discus Personal Best: 54.01m (177-02) // June 22, 2019; U.S. U20 Championships // 3rd all-time
Discus Season Best: 54.01m (177-02)
Discus Seed Mark: 4
Discus U.S. U20 Rank: 2
Discus World U20 Rank: 12
Shot Put Personal Best: 15.56m (51-00.75) // June 22, 2019; U.S. U20 Championships // 5th all-time
Shot Put Seed Mark: 3
Shot Put U.S. U20 Rank: 7
Shot Put World U20 Rank: 24
Quick Facts: U.S. U20 Champion in the discus, runner-up in the shot put … Alongside Brandee Presley will be one of the first two Rebel women to ever double at the Pan American U20 Championships … Won U.S. discus title by 10 feet … NCAA East qualifier in both the discus and shot put … Scored in the discus at the SEC Championships, finishing seventh overall … Earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors both indoors and outdoors … 2016 USATF national champion in 15-16 girls shot put … Five-time South Carolina state champion.
Jayda Eckford | Women's 200-Meter Dash
Prelims: Sat., July 20, 6:40 p.m. CT
Finals: Sat., July 20, 8:30 p.m. CT
Hometown / High School: Clinton, Miss. / Clinton HS
Overall Personal Best: 22.72 (+2.2) // June 23, 2019; U.S. U20 Championships Finals // School Record
Overall Season Best: 22.72 (+2.2)
Wind-Legal Personal Best: 22.98 (+0.6) // June 23, 2019; U.S. U20 Championships Prelims
Wind-Legal Season Best: 22.98 (+0.6)
Seed Mark: 2
All-Conditions U.S. U20 Rank: 4
All-Conditions U.S. Overall Rank: T-16
All-Conditions World U20 Rank: 5
All-Conditions World Overall Rank: T-31
Wind-Legal U.S. U20 Rank: 6
Wind-Legal U.S. Overall Rank: 32
Wind-Legal World U20 Rank: 9
Wind-Legal World Overall Rank: 58
Quick Facts: First Rebel to ever break 23 seconds at an IAAF wind-legal status (22.98/+0.6) … Finished as U.S. U20 runner-up in the final at all-conditions school record 22.72 (+2.2) … Ran a wind-legal Ole Miss record 23.00 into a -0.1 headwind in the prelims of the NCAA Championships … Earned Second-Team All-American honors for her 11th-place finish … Fourth Rebel ever to qualify in the women's 200-meter outdoors … Also ran on the school-record women's 4x100-meter relay team (43.45) that finished with Second-Team All-American honors in 12th place at the NCAA Championships … Also owns a 400-meter PR of 53.98 (8th all-time) ... Won three state titles her senior year at Clinton, helping lead them to a team state title ... 2016 Junior Olympian, took sixth in the 400-meter.
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
The junior championships feature athletes aged 14-20 from countries within North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. The first championship meet was held in 1980 in Sudbury, Canada, with subsequent meets in 1982 (Barquisimeto, Venezuela), 1984 (Nassau, Bahamas), 1986 (Winter Park, Florida), 1989 (Santa Fe, Argentina), 1991 (Kingston, Jamaica), 1993 (Winnipeg, Canada), 1995 (Santiago, Chile), 1997 (Havana, Cuba), 1999 (Tampa, Florida), 2001 (Santa Fe, Argentina), 2003 (Bridgetown, Barbados), 2005 (Windsor, Canada), 2007 (Sao Paulo, Brazil), 2009 (Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago), 2011 (Miramar, Florida), 2013 (Medellin, Colombia), 2015 (Edmonton, Canada) and 2017 (Trujillo, Peru).
Prior to this year, only four Rebels had ever qualified to compete at the Pan American U20 Championships in Ole Miss history: James Shelton, who won a gold medal on Team USA's 4x100-meter relay while also winning a bronze in the 100-meter dash in 1999; Kendrick Triggs in the 200-meter dash in 2001; and Carmia Carroll in the high jump in 2005.
Competition begins for the Rebels with freshman Joseph Benedetto in the men's hammer final at 10:10 a.m. CT on Friday. Read below for a full competition schedule and more about each Rebel qualifier.
Competition Schedule (All Times CT)
Friday, July 19
10:10 AM – Joseph Benedetto, Men's Hammer Final
10:30 AM – Brandee Presley, Women's 100-Meter Semifinal
6:10 PM – Tedreauna Britt, Women's Shot Put Final
8:50 PM – Brandee Presley, Women's 100-Meter Final (if qualified)
Saturday, July 20
4:00 PM – Tedreauna Britt, Women's Discus Final
5:00 PM – Brandee Presley, Women's 4x100-Meter Relay Semifinal
6:40 PM – Jayda Eckford, Women's 200-Meter Semifinal
8:30 PM – Jayda Eckford, Women's 200-Meter Final (if qualified)
10:40 PM – Brandee Presley, Women's 4x100-Meter Relay Final (if qualified)
Joseph Benedetto | Men's Hammer
Date / Time: Fri., July 19 / 10:10 a.m. CT
Hometown / High School: Middletown, N.Y. / John S. Burke Catholic
Personal Best (Collegiate Hammer): 59.36m (194-09) // May 9, 2019; SEC Outdoor Championships // 7th all-time at Ole Miss
Season Best (Collegiate Hammer): 59.36m (194-09)
Personal Best (6kg Junior Hammer): 66.99m (219-09) // Winning throw at U.S. U20 Championships
Season Best (6kg Junior Hammer): 66.99m (219-09)
Seed Mark: 6
Quick Facts: U.S. U20 Champion in the men's hammer … NCAA East Region qualifier … Ranks seventh all-time at Ole Miss … Current PR was a five-foot improvement at the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Brandee Presley | Women's 100-Meter Dash | Women's 4x100-Meter Relay
100-Meter Prelims: Fri., July 19, 10:30 a.m. CT
100-Meter Finals: Fri., July 19, 8:50 p.m. CT
4x100-Meter Prelims: Sat., July 20, 5:00 p.m. CT
4x100-Meter Finals: Sat., July 20, 10:40 p.m. CT
Hometown / High School: Bixby, Okla. / Bixby HS
100-Meter Personal Best: 11.19 (+2.0) // June 22, 2019; U.S. U20 Championships Finals // School Record
100-Meter Season Best: 11.19 (+2.0)
100-Meter Seed Mark: 2
100-Meter U.S. U20 Rank: 3
100-Meter U.S. Overall Rank: T-45
100-Meter World U20 Rank: T-6
Quick Facts: U.S. U20 Champion in the women's 100-meter … Alongside Tedreauna Britt, will become one of the first two Rebel women to double at the Pan American U20 meet … Broke school record twice in span of two hours, winning the U.S. title at 11.19 (+2.0) … Broke record in prelims as well at 11.23 (+3.1) … First Rebel to ever break 11.20 at any wind reading … Fastest time at U.S. U20 meet since 2016 (Candace Hill, 11.09/+1.9), fastest winning time since 2014 (Kaylin Whitney, 11.10/+0.9) … Earned Second-Team All-American honors in the 100-meter, finishing 12th overall … Also ran on the school-record women's 4x100-meter relay team (43.45) that finished with Second-Team All-American honors in 12th place at the NCAA Championships … Entered NCAA East Regional ranked No. 43 … First Rebel women to qualify in the NCAA 100-meter since Jones in 2001 … Owns the Oklahoma high school state record at 11.44 ... Broke 12 seconds in the 100 each year she was in high school.
Tedreauna Britt | Women's Discus | Women's Shot Put
Shot Put Finals: Fri., July 19, 6:10 p.m. CT
Discus Finals: Sat., July 20, 4:00 p.m. CT
Hometown / High School: St. George, S.C. / Woodland HS
Discus Personal Best: 54.01m (177-02) // June 22, 2019; U.S. U20 Championships // 3rd all-time
Discus Season Best: 54.01m (177-02)
Discus Seed Mark: 4
Discus U.S. U20 Rank: 2
Discus World U20 Rank: 12
Shot Put Personal Best: 15.56m (51-00.75) // June 22, 2019; U.S. U20 Championships // 5th all-time
Shot Put Seed Mark: 3
Shot Put U.S. U20 Rank: 7
Shot Put World U20 Rank: 24
Quick Facts: U.S. U20 Champion in the discus, runner-up in the shot put … Alongside Brandee Presley will be one of the first two Rebel women to ever double at the Pan American U20 Championships … Won U.S. discus title by 10 feet … NCAA East qualifier in both the discus and shot put … Scored in the discus at the SEC Championships, finishing seventh overall … Earned SEC All-Freshman Team honors both indoors and outdoors … 2016 USATF national champion in 15-16 girls shot put … Five-time South Carolina state champion.
Jayda Eckford | Women's 200-Meter Dash
Prelims: Sat., July 20, 6:40 p.m. CT
Finals: Sat., July 20, 8:30 p.m. CT
Hometown / High School: Clinton, Miss. / Clinton HS
Overall Personal Best: 22.72 (+2.2) // June 23, 2019; U.S. U20 Championships Finals // School Record
Overall Season Best: 22.72 (+2.2)
Wind-Legal Personal Best: 22.98 (+0.6) // June 23, 2019; U.S. U20 Championships Prelims
Wind-Legal Season Best: 22.98 (+0.6)
Seed Mark: 2
All-Conditions U.S. U20 Rank: 4
All-Conditions U.S. Overall Rank: T-16
All-Conditions World U20 Rank: 5
All-Conditions World Overall Rank: T-31
Wind-Legal U.S. U20 Rank: 6
Wind-Legal U.S. Overall Rank: 32
Wind-Legal World U20 Rank: 9
Wind-Legal World Overall Rank: 58
Quick Facts: First Rebel to ever break 23 seconds at an IAAF wind-legal status (22.98/+0.6) … Finished as U.S. U20 runner-up in the final at all-conditions school record 22.72 (+2.2) … Ran a wind-legal Ole Miss record 23.00 into a -0.1 headwind in the prelims of the NCAA Championships … Earned Second-Team All-American honors for her 11th-place finish … Fourth Rebel ever to qualify in the women's 200-meter outdoors … Also ran on the school-record women's 4x100-meter relay team (43.45) that finished with Second-Team All-American honors in 12th place at the NCAA Championships … Also owns a 400-meter PR of 53.98 (8th all-time) ... Won three state titles her senior year at Clinton, helping lead them to a team state title ... 2016 Junior Olympian, took sixth in the 400-meter.
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
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