The University of Mississippi Athletics
Ole Miss Men’s DMR Earns NCAA Runner-Up After Historic Race
3/12/2021 | Track and Field
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Rebel Men’s Distance Medley Relay Ran Third-Fastest Time in NCAA History
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The Ole Miss men's distance medley relay went toe-to-toe with the world record holders, and nearly came away with a national title after clocking the third-fastest time in NCAA history at Day Two of the NCAA Indoor Championships on Friday.
The Rebel quartet of Everett Smulders (1200-meter), Elijah Dryer (400-meter), John Rivera Jr. (800-meter) and Mario Garcia Romo (mile) came within one second of toppling the world record holders Oregon, finishing as NCAA runners-up at 9:20.75 – the third-fastest time in NCAA history and fourth-best in world indoor history. That time obliterates the Ole Miss record set only two weeks ago by nine seconds (9:29.35), and also stands as the second-best time in NCAA Indoor meet history behind Oregon's winning time today of 9:19.98. Ole Miss kept pace with the highly-touted Oregon team after four spectacular legs from Smulders (2:53.32), Dryer (46.81), Rivera (1:47.35) and Garcia Romo (3:53.28).
In the history of the world, the men's indoor distance medley relay list now reads Oregon's 9:19.42 from Jan. 29, 2021, Team USA's 9:19.93 from 2015, Oregon's winning time today and the runner-up performance by the Rebel men on Friday.
Friday's finish is the fourth First-Team All-American honor for Ole Miss in the men's distance medley relay in the last six years, as well as the sixth NCAA runner-up finish in Ole Miss men's indoor history. For Garcia Romo, this is his second career First-Team All-American honor after running on the eighth-place DMR in 2019.
All-American senior Waleed Suliman did not take part in the DMR success, but had a historic day all on his own in the men's mile semifinal earlier in the day. Suliman was part of the fastest NCAA mile prelim in history, with all eight times in Heat One clocking in below the four-minute barrier. Suliman's fourth-place time of 3:57.64 stands as his fifth-career sub-four mile, and puts him as the No. 10 performer in the history of the NCAA Indoor meet. His time was good enough for an auto qualifier spot into Saturday's final, his second career NCAA mile final after finishing ninth in 2019.
The Rebel women's DMR made some history of their own, scoring in eighth place and earning First-Team All-American honors in their first ever trip to the national meet. The quartet of Loral Winn (1200-meter, 3:24.26), Toni Glatz (400-meter, 55.38), Sintayehu Vissa (800-meter, 2:05.37) and Maddie King (mile, 4:42.18) ran 11:07.18, which was originally good for ninth overall before getting bumped up into scoring position following a disqualification.
Ole Miss had a superb indoor season on the women's distance side in 2021, breaking the mile school record in four consecutive meets, the 3K record, and the DMR record, with this All-American foursome punching their ticket to the NCAA Championships following an 11:04.27 record that was good for fourth at the SEC Championships.
All-American senior Allen Gordon came heartbreakingly to scoring twice in a span of two hours, settling for Second-Team All-America honors in both the high jump and long jump. The Omaha, Nebraska native was one of just 19 athletes in competition to double and one of just two to try the high jump/long jump double alongside LSU's JuVaughn Harrison, who became the first athlete in NCAA history to win both in the same national meet.
Gordon started the day with two easy clearances in the high jump before bowing out at 2.13m (6-11.75). His early success put him in position to potentially score in the top-eight, but two last-second survival clearances on third attempts from other competitors bumped him down to ninth.
He faced similar bad luck in the long jump. He came through in the clutch with a season-best 7.73m (25-04.50) on his third attempt to jump from 15th to eighth and advance to the final, but in the last round of jumps he was bested by one centimeter by Texas Tech's Jalen Seals (7.74m/25-04.75).
Also in competition on Friday was junior Baylor Franklin, who concluded an excellent indoor season with a Second-Team All-American finish in the men's 800-meter semifinal, finishing 12th at 1:49.83 in his first career national meet.
The Rebel women finish with 12 total meet points, good for third-most in program history and currently good for a tie for seventh place in the team standings. Ole Miss will have to wait and see how the final day of competition shakes out on Saturday to see its final place.
Ole Miss will conclude its stay at the NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday, with Waleed Suliman in the men's mile final at 2 p.m. CT, and Suliman and Mario Garcia Romo in the men's 3K final at 3 p.m. CT.
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
The Rebel quartet of Everett Smulders (1200-meter), Elijah Dryer (400-meter), John Rivera Jr. (800-meter) and Mario Garcia Romo (mile) came within one second of toppling the world record holders Oregon, finishing as NCAA runners-up at 9:20.75 – the third-fastest time in NCAA history and fourth-best in world indoor history. That time obliterates the Ole Miss record set only two weeks ago by nine seconds (9:29.35), and also stands as the second-best time in NCAA Indoor meet history behind Oregon's winning time today of 9:19.98. Ole Miss kept pace with the highly-touted Oregon team after four spectacular legs from Smulders (2:53.32), Dryer (46.81), Rivera (1:47.35) and Garcia Romo (3:53.28).
In the history of the world, the men's indoor distance medley relay list now reads Oregon's 9:19.42 from Jan. 29, 2021, Team USA's 9:19.93 from 2015, Oregon's winning time today and the runner-up performance by the Rebel men on Friday.
Friday's finish is the fourth First-Team All-American honor for Ole Miss in the men's distance medley relay in the last six years, as well as the sixth NCAA runner-up finish in Ole Miss men's indoor history. For Garcia Romo, this is his second career First-Team All-American honor after running on the eighth-place DMR in 2019.
All-American senior Waleed Suliman did not take part in the DMR success, but had a historic day all on his own in the men's mile semifinal earlier in the day. Suliman was part of the fastest NCAA mile prelim in history, with all eight times in Heat One clocking in below the four-minute barrier. Suliman's fourth-place time of 3:57.64 stands as his fifth-career sub-four mile, and puts him as the No. 10 performer in the history of the NCAA Indoor meet. His time was good enough for an auto qualifier spot into Saturday's final, his second career NCAA mile final after finishing ninth in 2019.
The Rebel women's DMR made some history of their own, scoring in eighth place and earning First-Team All-American honors in their first ever trip to the national meet. The quartet of Loral Winn (1200-meter, 3:24.26), Toni Glatz (400-meter, 55.38), Sintayehu Vissa (800-meter, 2:05.37) and Maddie King (mile, 4:42.18) ran 11:07.18, which was originally good for ninth overall before getting bumped up into scoring position following a disqualification.
Ole Miss had a superb indoor season on the women's distance side in 2021, breaking the mile school record in four consecutive meets, the 3K record, and the DMR record, with this All-American foursome punching their ticket to the NCAA Championships following an 11:04.27 record that was good for fourth at the SEC Championships.
All-American senior Allen Gordon came heartbreakingly to scoring twice in a span of two hours, settling for Second-Team All-America honors in both the high jump and long jump. The Omaha, Nebraska native was one of just 19 athletes in competition to double and one of just two to try the high jump/long jump double alongside LSU's JuVaughn Harrison, who became the first athlete in NCAA history to win both in the same national meet.
Gordon started the day with two easy clearances in the high jump before bowing out at 2.13m (6-11.75). His early success put him in position to potentially score in the top-eight, but two last-second survival clearances on third attempts from other competitors bumped him down to ninth.
He faced similar bad luck in the long jump. He came through in the clutch with a season-best 7.73m (25-04.50) on his third attempt to jump from 15th to eighth and advance to the final, but in the last round of jumps he was bested by one centimeter by Texas Tech's Jalen Seals (7.74m/25-04.75).
Also in competition on Friday was junior Baylor Franklin, who concluded an excellent indoor season with a Second-Team All-American finish in the men's 800-meter semifinal, finishing 12th at 1:49.83 in his first career national meet.
The Rebel women finish with 12 total meet points, good for third-most in program history and currently good for a tie for seventh place in the team standings. Ole Miss will have to wait and see how the final day of competition shakes out on Saturday to see its final place.
Ole Miss will conclude its stay at the NCAA Indoor Championships on Saturday, with Waleed Suliman in the men's mile final at 2 p.m. CT, and Suliman and Mario Garcia Romo in the men's 3K final at 3 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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