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Friday, February 28
College Station, Texas
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SEC Indoor Championships

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Ole Miss Track & Field Heads to Texas A&M for SEC Indoor Championships

2/26/2020 | Track and Field

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Championship week is here, as the Ole Miss men's and women's track & field teams head to Texas A&M for the 2020 SEC Indoor Championships, held this weekend on Feb. 28-29.
 
ON THE AIR
 
Day One (Friday, Feb. 28)
SEC Network +
5:10 p.m. CT
 
Day Two (Saturday, Feb. 29)
SEC Network +
3:55 p.m. CT
 
Tape Delay (Sunday, March 1)
SEC Network
Day Two Replay: 8 p.m. CT
 
Talent
Dwight Stones (Play-by-Play)
Jill Montgomery (Analyst)
Dan O'Brien (Analyst)
Larra Overton (Analyst)
 
TEAM NOTES
• The Rebel women rank No. 20 in the Week Five USTFCCCA National Rating Index, their fifth straight appearance in the national poll. This marks the 28th time in women's program history that the Rebels have been ranked in the indoor season, the 20th such ranking that has come under head coach Connie Price-Smith's tutelage since taking over the combined program in 2015.
 
• Ole Miss currently has a total of 24 marks or times that rank within the NCAA top-50, 11 of which fall within the top-25. To qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, athletes must rank within the top-16 in their respective events at the end of the conference championship weekend.
 
• Head coach Connie Price-Smith is in her fifth season at the helm of the Ole Miss men's and women's programs and her 19th season overall. In her tenure with the Rebels, Price-Smith has mentored 74 First or Second-Team All-Americans, 32 SEC Champions, while also earning four NCAA event titles and coaching athletes to three different collegiate records. In her head coaching career at both Ole Miss and Southern Illinois dating back to 2002, Price-Smith has collected 12 NCAA event titles and mentored 143 All-Americans on the track.
 
• Under Price-Smith, Ole Miss has set the highest SEC Indoor finish in women's competition (third, 2017) and tied for the best men's finish two different times with third-place finishes in 2016 and 2017.
 
• In its history indoors, Ole Miss has finished in the NCAA top-25 of the team standings 15 total times (11 times on the men's side, four times on the women's side). Under Price-Smith, the Rebels have recorded their highest women's team finish ever indoors (12th, 2017) and the fourth-best indoors for the men (16th, 2017).
 
WOMEN'S NOTES
• Ole Miss has taken the women's weight throw by storm, as it became the first school in NCAA history with three women at or above the 22-meter plateau (Shey Taiwo, Jasmine Mitchell, Deborah Bulai) in 2020. Prior to this year, only three schools ever had two 22-meter throwers (Florida, 2004; Louisville, 2010; Southern Illinois, 2011), including a Southern Illinois squad coached by head coach Connie Price-Smith and throws coach John Smith via marks from Olympian Gwen Berry and NCAA Champion Jeneva McCall (both ended up serving as Ole Miss volunteer assistant coaches). Notre Dame currently has two throwers beyond 22 meters this season, making 2020 the first in NCAA history to have multiple schools have multiple athletes throw beyond that mark.
 
• All three Rebels rank in the top-10 of the NCAA, with Taiwo sitting fourth at 22.70m (74-05.75), Mitchell fifth at 22.23m (72-11.75) and Bulai 10th at 22.02m (72-03.00). The trio ranks second, third and fourth in school history behind two-time U.S. champion and current world leader Janeah Stewart, whose school record 24.12m (79-01.75) still ranks sixth in NCAA history.
 
• Sophomore Brandee Presley has continued to light the track on fire, following up a superb freshman year with a demonstrative season open at UAB. Presley broke the Ole Miss record in the 60-meter dash twice, running 7.27 in the semifinal before winning at 7.18, currently tied for the No. 6 time in the NCAA and No. 1 time in the SEC. All-American Teneeshia Jones' record of 7.28 had stood since 2001.
 
• Presley is one of four underclassmen in the NCAA to have already broken 7.20 this season. Presley ended her freshman campaign in 2019 with a spectacular streak of improvements in the 100-meter outdoors, ending with the school record at 11.19 (+2.0) to become the first Rebel to ever break 11.20. In her first year, Presley earned two Second-Team All-American honors and a U.S. U20 gold medal before earning a silver in the 100-meter and gold in the women's 4x100-meter relay for Team USA at the Pan American U20 Championships.
 
• Senior Kieshonna Brooks is off to a stellar start to her final indoor campaign, currently ranking in the NCAA top-50 in both the long jump (20th, 6.22m/20-05.00) and 60-meter hurdles (46th, 8.32). Her hurdles time ranks No. 2 in school history. Brooks enters her senior year ranked fifth in school history in the pentathlon at 3,803 points, and she notched 3,574 in her first pentathlon at Indiana. She is the national record holder in her native Saint Kitts and Nevis in the indoor pentathlon (3,803) and outdoor heptathlon (5,338).
 
• Returning SEC All-Freshman shot putter Tedreauna Britt currently ranks 28th nationally and fourth in the SEC at her career-best 16.14m (52-11.50), the third-best throw in Ole Miss history. She is coming off a summer that featured a U.S. title in the discus as well as a national runner-up in the shot put prior to a silver medal in the shot put at the Pan-American U20 games.
 
• Sophomore Jayda Eckford shot up the all-time list in the 200-meter dash at Texas Tech, clocking the second-fastest time in school history at 23.67 -- the fastest by a Rebel indoors since All-American Teneeshia Jones set the school record at 23.36 in 2001. Eckford had a bombastic outdoor season as a freshman that saw her break Jones' all-conditions 200-meter record at 22.72 (+2.2), become the first Rebel to break 23 seconds at a wind-legal time of 22.98 (+0.6), and win silver at both the U.S. U20 and Pan-American U20 Championships.
 
• Two Rebel vaulters stand tied for 41st nationally and ninth in the SEC at 4.10m (13-05.25), as freshmen Lyndsey Reed and senior Nicole Kallenberger have both cleared that height this season. Both are also tied for fourth on the Ole Miss all-time list at that mark.
 
• Freshman Sara Van Aken had an excellent outing in the pentathlon at Indiana, recording 3,511 points to move up to ninth all-time at Ole Miss after recording PRs in four of the five events. However, her best came in the high jump, which she won at a PR height of 1.75m (5-08.75), the fourth-best clearance in school history and tied for the best ever recorded by a Rebel during the pentathlon. Her height currently stands at No. 47 in the NCAA and No. 11 in the SEC.
 
MEN'S NOTES
• In 2019, junior Waleed Suliman helped Ole Miss become the first school in SEC history to win five straight mile titles, beating out Arkansas' Cameron Griffith by 0.03 seconds at his winning time of 4:02.47. Suliman is the latest in a long line of Rebels to snag the mile title alongside Daniel Bulmer (2015), Robert Domanic (2016) and Sean Tobin (2017, 2018). Suliman enters with the SEC's top time of 3:57.03, run in his season opening race at Vanderbilt on Jan. 18 (currently the NCAA's No. 5 time).
 
• Last season, Suliman set the Ole Miss record at 3:56.78 at Boston University's David Hemery Valentine Invite on Feb. 9, 2019. Only two other Rebels have ever broken the four-minute barrier in the mile, and they have all come within the last two years: All-Americans Sean Tobin (3:58.28, Feb. 3, 2018; 3:59.91, Feb. 15, 2014) and Derek Gutierrez (3:58.55, Feb. 9, 2019).
 
• Suliman also owns the NCAA's No. 22 and SEC's No. 2 time in the 3K at 7:54.80, run at Washington's Husky Classic on Feb. 14.
 
• Ole Miss has also been prodigious in the distance medley relay on the men's side, winning five of the last six DMR titles. The Rebels took four straight from 2014-17 and climbed back atop the podium in 2019.
 
• Fellow junior John Rivera Jr. also holds an NCAA top-10 time in a middle distance event, ranking No. 9 nationally and No. 4 in the SEC in the 800-meter at 1:48.13 from the Vanderbilt Invite. That time ranks fifth all-time at Ole Miss and stands as the fastest overall by a Rebel since All-American Craig Engels clocked 1:47.54 at the 2017 SEC Championships. One week earlier, Rivera broke the Ole Miss record in the non-standard 600-meter at 1:17.90 to open the season, toppling Thomas Johnson's 1991 time of 1:18.75.
 
• Junior Allen Gordon had a spectacular meet at Kentucky, setting personal bests in all three jumping events. Gordon was third in the triple jump at a career-best 15.00m (49-02.50), but it was in the high jump and long jump where he shined. Gordon opened the day with a win in the high jump at an overall PR of 2.20m (7-02.50) before winning the long jump at an indoor PR of 7.83m (25-08.25). Both marks put him at third in Ole Miss history, and he also currently ranks in the top-20 nationally at both, standing 10th in the long jump and 19th in the high jump. He is coming off a career year in the long jump as well where he leapt 7.76m (25-05.50) to win bronze at the 2019 SEC Indoor Championships. In his career, Gordon is one of two Rebels to have ever cleared 7-2 in the high jump and 25-5 in the long jump indoors, joining Olympian and NCAA Champion Savante' Stringfellow.
 
• Ole Miss has two men's pole vaulters that should be within scoring contention following two strong indoor campaigns thus far from junior Peyton Weissmann and senior Cole Colozzo. Weissmann became the second-best vaulter in Rebel men's history indoors after a career day at Texas Tech, clearing 5.35m (17-06.50) -- ranking only behind Olympian Sam Kendricks, who set the Ole Miss record at 5.70m (18-08.25) at the 2014 NCAA Championships. Colozzo, meanwhile, cleared a career-best 5.30m (17-04.50) at Indiana, now the third-best height in school history indoors. The duo rank as the first in school history to have cleared 17-4 or higher in the same season, and they rank fourth and fifth in the SEC, respectively.
 
• Senior Manny Foster led the Rebel men at UAB with a spectacular performance in the triple jump, winning on a huge three-foot PR of 15.71m (51-06.50) -- the ninth-best leap in school history. Foster also currently ranks No. 29 in the NCAA and No. 9 in the SEC at that distance, the longest at Ole Miss since Phillip Young's 16.27m (53-04.50) from the 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships.
 
• Sophomore Joseph Benedetto dropped a massive new career best in the weight throw at UAB, launching a seven-foot PR to open the season at 20.62m (67-08.00). He ranks third all-time at Ole Miss, and he currently stands No. 35 in the NCAA and No. 5 in the SEC.
 
Rebel Men Competing:
60-Meter Dash: Elijah Dryer
200-Meter Dash: Elijah Dryer
400-Meter Dash: James Burnett
800-Meter: John Rivera Jr.
Mile: Parker Scott, Everett Smulders, Waleed Suliman
3K: Farah Abdulkarim, Michael Coccia, Baylor Franklin, Nick Moulai, Ben Savino, Parker Scott, Waleed Suliman
5K: Farah Abdulkarim, Michael Coccia, Ben Savino
4x400-Meter Relay: Alvin Westbrook, James Burnett, Elijah Dryer, Andrew Raspo
Distance Medley Relay: Nick Moulai, James Burnett, Baylor Franklin, Waleed Suliman
High Jump: Allen Gordon
Pole Vault: Cole Colozzo, Peyton Weissmann
Long Jump: Manny Foster, Allen Gordon
Triple Jump: Manny Foster
Shot Put: Danny Guiliani, Daniel Viveros
Weight Throw: Joseph Benedetto
Heptathlon: Pierce Genereux
 
Rebel Women Competing:
60-Meter Dash: Brandee Presley, Kelly Rowe
200-Meter Dash: Jayda Eckford, Kirstin Jones, Kelly Rowe
Mile: Maddie King
3K: Skylar Boogerd, Anna Elkin, Maddie King, Cate Tracht, Ylvi Traxler, Loral Winn
5K: Anna Elkin
4x400-Meter Relay: Jayda Eckford, Brandee Presley, Kirstin Jones, Toni Glatz
Distance Medley Relay: Ylvi Traxler, Toni Glatz, Loral Winn, Skylar Boogerd
High Jump: Sara Van Aken
Pole Vault: Nicole Kallenberger, Elizabeth Nix, Lyndsey Reed
Long Jump: Kieshonna Brooks, Kaira Simmons, Ghania Warren
Shot Put: Tedreauna Britt, Jalani Davis, Jasmine Mitchell
Weight Throw: Tedreauna Britt, Deborah Bulai, Jalani Davis, Jasmine Mitchell, Shey Taiwo
Pentathlon: Kieshonna Brooks, Sara Van Aken
 
SEC Indoor Championships, Master Schedule (all times CT)
Day One | Friday, February 28
Time Event Athlete(s)
11:15 a.m. Men's Heptathlon (60-Meter Dash) Pierce Genereux (Heat 2)
11:45 a.m. Women's Pentathlon (60-Meter Hurdles) Sara Van Aken (Heat 1)
Kieshonna Brooks (Heat 5)
12:00 p.m. Men's Heptathlon (Long Jump) Pierce Genereux (Flight 1)
12:30 p.m. Women's Pentathlon (High Jump) Kieshonna Brooks (Flight 1)
Sara Van Aken (Flight 2)
1:15 p.m. Men's Heptathlon (Shot Put) Pierce Genereux (Flight 1)
2:30 p.m. Men's Heptathlon (High Jump) Pierce Genereux (Flight 1)
2:45 p.m. Women's Pentathlon (Shot Put) Kieshonna Brooks (Flight 1)
Sara Van Aken (Flight 1)
3:45 p.m. Women's Pentathlon (Long Jump) Sara Van Aken (Flight 1)
Kieshonna Brooks (Flight 2)
4:30 p.m. Women's Shot Put Final Jasmine Mitchell (Flight 1)
Tedreauna Britt (Flight 2)
Jalani Davis (Flight 2)
5:10 p.m. Women's Pentathlon (800-Meter) Kieshonna Brooks
Sara Van Aken
5:15 p.m. Men's Long Jump Final Manny Foster (Flight 1)
Allen Gordon (Flight 2)
Men's Pole Vault Final Cole Colozzo
Peyton Weissmann
5:20 p.m. Men's Mile Prelims Parker Scott (Heat 1)
Waleed Suliman (Heat 1)
Everett Smulders (Heat 2)
5:32 p.m. Women's Mile Prelims Maddie King (Heat 1)
5:48 p.m. Men's 60-Meter Dash Prelims Elijah Dryer (Heat 2, Lane 1)
6:02 p.m. Women's 60-Meter Dash Prelims Brandee Presley (Heat 2, Lane 3)
Kelly Rowe (Heat 3, Lane 2)
6:14 p.m. Men's 400-Meter Dash Prelims James Burnett (Heat 6, Lane 5)
6:55 p.m. Women's Long Jump Final Kaira Simmons (Flight 1)
Ghania Warren (Flight 1)
Kieshonna Brooks (Flight 2)
7:05 p.m. Men's Shot Put Final Danny Guiliani
Daniel Viveros
7:24 p.m. Men's 800-Meter Prelims John Rivera Jr. (Heat 2, Lane 2)
7:46 p.m. Men's 5K Final Farah Abdulkarim
Michael Coccia
Ben Savino
8:04 p.m. Men's 200-Meter Dash Prelims Elijah Dryer (Heat 1, Lane 4)
8:24 p.m. Women's 5K Final Anna Elkin (Heat 1)
8:44 p.m. Women's 200-Meter Dash Prelims Jayda Eckford (Heat 1, Lane 3)
Kirstin Jones (Heat 2, Lane 4)
Kelly Rowe (Heat 7, Lane 3)
9:06 p.m. Men's Distance Medley Relay Final Nick Moulai
James Burnett
Baylor Franklin
Waleed Suliman
9:21 p.m. Women's Distance Medley Relay Final Ylvi Traxler
Toni Glatz
Loral Winn
Skylar Boogerd
Day Two | Saturday, February 29
1:15 p.m. Men's High Jump Final Allen Gordon
Women's High Jump Final Sara Van Aken
2:00 p.m. Men's Weight Throw Final Joseph Benedetto
Women's Pole Vault Final Nicole Kallenberger
Elizabeth Nix
Lyndsey Reed
4:10 p.m. Men's Mile Final Everett Smulders
Waleed Suliman
4:20 p.m. Women's Mile Final Maddie King
4:30 p.m. Women's Weight Throw Final Jalani Davis (Flight 1)
Tedreauna Britt (Flight 2)
Deborah Bulai (Flight 2)
Jasmine Mitchell (Flight 2)
Shey Taiwo (Flight 2)
Men's Triple Jump Final Manny Foster
5:15 p.m. Men's 800-Meter Final John Rivera Jr.
5:40 p.m. Women's 200-Meter Dash Final Jayda Eckford
5:50 p.m. Men's 3K Final Baylor Franklin (Heat 1)
Parker Scott (Heat 1)
Ben Savino (Heat 1)
Farah Abdulkarim (Heat 2)
Michael Coccia (Heat 2)
Nick Moulai (Heat 2)
Waleed Suliman (Heat 2)
6:15 p.m. Women's 3K Final Skylar Boogerd (Heat 1)
Anna Elkin (Heat 1)
Maddie King (Heat 1)
Cate Tracht (Heat 1)
Ylvi Traxler (Heat 1)
Loral Winn (Heat 1)
6:40 p.m. Men's 4x400-Meter Relay Final (Heat 1, Lane 4) Alvin Westbrook
James Burnett
Elijah Dryer
Andrew Raspo
6:55 p.m. Women's 4x400-Meter Relay Final (Heat 1, Lane 3) Jayda Eckford
Brandee Presley
Kirstin Jones
Toni Glatz
 
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
 

Players Mentioned

Distance
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Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
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Throws
/ Track and Field
Multi
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Multi
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
Jumps
/ Track and Field
Throws
/ Track and Field
Multi
/ Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Track and Field
Sprints
/ Track and Field
Distance
/ Track and Field
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