The University of Mississippi Athletics
Thursday, March 11
Fayetteville, Ark.
All Day
Ole Miss
vs
NCAA Indoor Championships
Ole Miss Men Complete Historic Showing at NCAA Indoor Championships
3/13/2021 | Track and Field
Rebel Men Score Program Record 20 Points, Record Highest Finish Since 2001 (10th)
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – It's been 365 days since the Ole Miss men's and women's track & field teams were on surprise flights home to Oxford from the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque. With the memories of that eerie day in the rearview, the Rebels relished the opportunity to compete on the highest stage yet again, with two All-Americans sealing a historic national meet on Saturday afternoon.
Senior Waleed Suliman and sophomore Mario Garcia Romo helped push the 2021 Rebel men's team all indoor season, and their performances on Saturday helped etch this squad into the record books. Ole Miss ended with an overall program record 20 total meet points (eight from the distance medley relay, and six each from Suliman in the mile and Garcia Romo in the 3K), good for 10th place in the final team standings – the best finish by a Rebel men's team indoors since 2001 (10th).
"I am so proud of the way our men and women competed this weekend," said Ole Miss head coach Connie Price-Smith. "The men's DMR was simply amazing to watch, and Waleed in the mile and Mario in the 3K was a job well done. A top-10 finish is the icing on the cake for the indoor season. Great job on a wonderful indoor season to both our men's and women's teams. At the beginning of the year and as the season started to unfold, it was hard to tell how the indoor season would end, but I couldn't be happier with the way our athletes competed. Thanks to this great coaching staff for getting them ready, and I can't wait to see what outdoors will bring."
Suliman started the day with a third-place finish in the men's mile final, the highest finish ever by a Rebel in the men's mile and the highest by any Ole Miss men's athlete in individual competition since Jalen Miller's third-place finish in the 60-meter dash in 2015. Suliman dropped a 56.21 final 400 and 25.87 final 200 to snag the bronze medal at 3:57.26, his sixth career time below the four-minute barrier, his fourth in a row and his second in 24 hours.
He barely had 45 minutes to prepare for the men's 3K, where he and Garcia Romo looked to give the Rebels a boost. Garcia Romo ran with the top pack from wire-to-wire, finishing third at 7:48.59 to give Ole Miss six more points toward that 20-point total. He unveiled a gutsy race strategy, jumping out to briefly take the lead for 100 meters with around two laps to go, but Oregon's historic duo of Cole Hocker and Cooper Teare tracked him down as the bell rang for the final lap and did not relinquish the lead.
Suliman, meanwhile, earned Second-Team All-American distinction after finishing 15th overall at 8:02.31.
Garcia Romo's race ends another chapter on what has been a storybook year for the Spanish native. He started the school year with a dynamite cross country season, leading an Ole Miss 1-2-3 SEC sweep and earning SEC Runner of the Year honors in the process. He didn't lose a step when it came time to toe the line indoors, helping lead an electrifying Rebel men's distance squad that rewrote the record books, won four SEC titles and accounted for all of Ole Miss' record 20 men's points at the NCAA Championships.
Additionally, Garcia Romo's heroics as the anchor on the NCAA runner-up Rebel men's DMR on Friday night help make him the first Ole Miss men's athlete to ever score in multiple events at the NCAA Indoor meet, and his eight total meet points are the most by a Rebel indoors since Sam Kendricks took NCAA runner-up in the pole vault in 2014.
In total, Ole Miss ends the weekend with 12 First-Team All-American awards and four Second-Team All-American nods. Those first-teamers are Garcia Romo (men's DMR, men's 3K), Suliman (men's mile), Everett Smulders (men's DMR), Elijah Dryer (men's DMR), John Rivera Jr. (men's DMR), Shey Taiwo (women's weight throw), Jasmine Mitchell (women's weight throw), Loral Winn (women's DMR), Toni Glatz (women's DMR), Sintayehu Vissa (women's DMR) and Maddie King (women's DMR). Earning Second-Team were Allen Gordon (men's high jump, men's long jump), Baylor Franklin (men's 800-meter) and Suliman in the 3K.
The Rebel women, meanwhile, ended up 19th in the team standings with 12 total points -- the third-most in program history and most since the 2017 squad scored 13. Additionally, it is the second top-20 finish in the last five years after only recording two top-20 finishes in program history prior.
Ole Miss will not have long to rest, as the Rebel men's and women's cross country teams will get right back to work for the rescheduled NCAA Cross Country Championships, held this Monday at Oklahoma State and live on ESPNU. The rest of the track & field team will jump right into the outdoor season, with their first meet set for next weekend (March 19-20) at Auburn's Tiger Track Classic.
Men's First-Team All-Americans
Elijah Dryer – Men's DMR, 2nd Place
Mario Garcia Romo – Men's DMR, 2nd Place
John Rivera Jr. – Men's DMR, 2nd Place
Everett Smulders – Men's DMR, 2nd Place
Mario Garcia Romo – Men's 3K, 3rd Place
Waleed Suliman – Men's Mile, 3rd Place
Men's Second-Team All-Americans
Allen Gordon – Men's High Jump, 9th Place
Allen Gordon – Men's Long Jump, 9th Place
Baylor Franklin – Men's 800-Meter, 12th Place
Waleed Suliman – Men's 3K, 15th Place
Women's First-Team All-Americans
Shey Taiwo – Women's Weight Throw, 3rd Place
Jasmine Mitchell – Women's Weight Throw, 4th Place
Toni Glatz – Women's DMR, 8th Place
Maddie King – Women's DMR, 8th Place
Sintayehu Vissa – Women's DMR, 8th Place
Loral Winn – Women's DMR, 8th Place
Final Men's Team Scores
1. #1 Oregon - 79
2. #2 LSU - 56
3. #6 Georgia - 35
4. #5 Florida - 34
5. #7 North Carolina A&T - 30
6. #4 Florida State - 23
7. #8 Alabama - 22
7. #3 Arkansas - 22
9. #9 Tennessee - 21
10. #11 Ole Miss - 20
11. #13 USC - 17
12. #20 North Dakota State - 15
13. #12 Iowa State - 14
14. #23 Kentucky - 12
14. #10 Texas - 12
16. #17 Virginia Tech - 11
16. #16 BYU - 11
18. Michigan - 10
18. North Carolina - 10
18. #15 Arizona State - 10
18. Baylor - 10
Final Women's Team Scores
1. #1 Arkansas - 68
2. #2 Texas A&M - 57
3. #6 LSU - 39
4. #7 USC - 35
5. #4 Georgia - 31
6. #5 Florida - 30
7. #8 BYU - 29
8. #3 Texas - 25
9. #11 Baylor - 24
10. #14 Auburn - 20
11. Ohio State - 18
11. #10 Texas Tech - 18
13. #12 Kentucky - 17
14. #15 Virginia Tech - 15
15. #9 Oregon - 14
16. Notre Dame - 13
16. #16 Alabama - 13
16. #13 Florida State - 13
19. #17 Ole Miss - 12
20. Louisville - 10
20. South Carolina - 10
20. #22 Arizona - 10
20. Colorado - 10
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
Senior Waleed Suliman and sophomore Mario Garcia Romo helped push the 2021 Rebel men's team all indoor season, and their performances on Saturday helped etch this squad into the record books. Ole Miss ended with an overall program record 20 total meet points (eight from the distance medley relay, and six each from Suliman in the mile and Garcia Romo in the 3K), good for 10th place in the final team standings – the best finish by a Rebel men's team indoors since 2001 (10th).
"I am so proud of the way our men and women competed this weekend," said Ole Miss head coach Connie Price-Smith. "The men's DMR was simply amazing to watch, and Waleed in the mile and Mario in the 3K was a job well done. A top-10 finish is the icing on the cake for the indoor season. Great job on a wonderful indoor season to both our men's and women's teams. At the beginning of the year and as the season started to unfold, it was hard to tell how the indoor season would end, but I couldn't be happier with the way our athletes competed. Thanks to this great coaching staff for getting them ready, and I can't wait to see what outdoors will bring."
Suliman started the day with a third-place finish in the men's mile final, the highest finish ever by a Rebel in the men's mile and the highest by any Ole Miss men's athlete in individual competition since Jalen Miller's third-place finish in the 60-meter dash in 2015. Suliman dropped a 56.21 final 400 and 25.87 final 200 to snag the bronze medal at 3:57.26, his sixth career time below the four-minute barrier, his fourth in a row and his second in 24 hours.
He barely had 45 minutes to prepare for the men's 3K, where he and Garcia Romo looked to give the Rebels a boost. Garcia Romo ran with the top pack from wire-to-wire, finishing third at 7:48.59 to give Ole Miss six more points toward that 20-point total. He unveiled a gutsy race strategy, jumping out to briefly take the lead for 100 meters with around two laps to go, but Oregon's historic duo of Cole Hocker and Cooper Teare tracked him down as the bell rang for the final lap and did not relinquish the lead.
Suliman, meanwhile, earned Second-Team All-American distinction after finishing 15th overall at 8:02.31.
Garcia Romo's race ends another chapter on what has been a storybook year for the Spanish native. He started the school year with a dynamite cross country season, leading an Ole Miss 1-2-3 SEC sweep and earning SEC Runner of the Year honors in the process. He didn't lose a step when it came time to toe the line indoors, helping lead an electrifying Rebel men's distance squad that rewrote the record books, won four SEC titles and accounted for all of Ole Miss' record 20 men's points at the NCAA Championships.
Additionally, Garcia Romo's heroics as the anchor on the NCAA runner-up Rebel men's DMR on Friday night help make him the first Ole Miss men's athlete to ever score in multiple events at the NCAA Indoor meet, and his eight total meet points are the most by a Rebel indoors since Sam Kendricks took NCAA runner-up in the pole vault in 2014.
In total, Ole Miss ends the weekend with 12 First-Team All-American awards and four Second-Team All-American nods. Those first-teamers are Garcia Romo (men's DMR, men's 3K), Suliman (men's mile), Everett Smulders (men's DMR), Elijah Dryer (men's DMR), John Rivera Jr. (men's DMR), Shey Taiwo (women's weight throw), Jasmine Mitchell (women's weight throw), Loral Winn (women's DMR), Toni Glatz (women's DMR), Sintayehu Vissa (women's DMR) and Maddie King (women's DMR). Earning Second-Team were Allen Gordon (men's high jump, men's long jump), Baylor Franklin (men's 800-meter) and Suliman in the 3K.
The Rebel women, meanwhile, ended up 19th in the team standings with 12 total points -- the third-most in program history and most since the 2017 squad scored 13. Additionally, it is the second top-20 finish in the last five years after only recording two top-20 finishes in program history prior.
Ole Miss will not have long to rest, as the Rebel men's and women's cross country teams will get right back to work for the rescheduled NCAA Cross Country Championships, held this Monday at Oklahoma State and live on ESPNU. The rest of the track & field team will jump right into the outdoor season, with their first meet set for next weekend (March 19-20) at Auburn's Tiger Track Classic.
Men's First-Team All-Americans
Elijah Dryer – Men's DMR, 2nd Place
Mario Garcia Romo – Men's DMR, 2nd Place
John Rivera Jr. – Men's DMR, 2nd Place
Everett Smulders – Men's DMR, 2nd Place
Mario Garcia Romo – Men's 3K, 3rd Place
Waleed Suliman – Men's Mile, 3rd Place
Men's Second-Team All-Americans
Allen Gordon – Men's High Jump, 9th Place
Allen Gordon – Men's Long Jump, 9th Place
Baylor Franklin – Men's 800-Meter, 12th Place
Waleed Suliman – Men's 3K, 15th Place
Women's First-Team All-Americans
Shey Taiwo – Women's Weight Throw, 3rd Place
Jasmine Mitchell – Women's Weight Throw, 4th Place
Toni Glatz – Women's DMR, 8th Place
Maddie King – Women's DMR, 8th Place
Sintayehu Vissa – Women's DMR, 8th Place
Loral Winn – Women's DMR, 8th Place
Final Men's Team Scores
1. #1 Oregon - 79
2. #2 LSU - 56
3. #6 Georgia - 35
4. #5 Florida - 34
5. #7 North Carolina A&T - 30
6. #4 Florida State - 23
7. #8 Alabama - 22
7. #3 Arkansas - 22
9. #9 Tennessee - 21
10. #11 Ole Miss - 20
11. #13 USC - 17
12. #20 North Dakota State - 15
13. #12 Iowa State - 14
14. #23 Kentucky - 12
14. #10 Texas - 12
16. #17 Virginia Tech - 11
16. #16 BYU - 11
18. Michigan - 10
18. North Carolina - 10
18. #15 Arizona State - 10
18. Baylor - 10
Final Women's Team Scores
1. #1 Arkansas - 68
2. #2 Texas A&M - 57
3. #6 LSU - 39
4. #7 USC - 35
5. #4 Georgia - 31
6. #5 Florida - 30
7. #8 BYU - 29
8. #3 Texas - 25
9. #11 Baylor - 24
10. #14 Auburn - 20
11. Ohio State - 18
11. #10 Texas Tech - 18
13. #12 Kentucky - 17
14. #15 Virginia Tech - 15
15. #9 Oregon - 14
16. Notre Dame - 13
16. #16 Alabama - 13
16. #13 Florida State - 13
19. #17 Ole Miss - 12
20. Louisville - 10
20. South Carolina - 10
20. #22 Arizona - 10
20. Colorado - 10
For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook and Instagram.
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