JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Mississippi State University, the University of Mississippi, and the University of Alabama track and field teams will begin competition today at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Preliminaries at the University of North Florida.
MSU will send 17 athletes to compete. Each one takes with them the goal of extending MSU’s outdoor track and field season a few weeks by finishing as one of the top 12 performers in their event and earning a spot in the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
James Harris is scheduled to compete in four events. He will join teammate and All-SEC honoree Marcus Jackson in the high jump. Following that, Harris will team with Daundre Barnaby and former Starkville High School standout Tavaris Tate in the 400-meter dash.
After completing the 400, Harris and Tate will join D’Angelo Cherry and Jarrett Samuels in the 4×100 relay. Tate and Harris then will link back up with Barnaby and add Emanuel Mayers for the 4×400 relay.
Cherry also will take his turn in the 100, while the SEC All-Freshman Samuels will reach for new distance in the long jump, where he will be joined by Trevarus Christian.
Mayers will compete with Nathan Arnett in the 400 hurdles, while Jason Harper will compete in the triple jump and Ed Wesela will participate in the shot put.
Rochelle Farquharson (long jump) and her sister, Racquel, (100 hurdles) will lead the MSU women. Jody-Ann Muir (400) and Favian Cowards (hammer throw) also will compete.
For Ole Miss, former Columbus High standout Dante Oliver will compete in the 400. He has a time of 47.25 seconds that is ranked 44th in the region.
Oliver will be one of 29 (14 men, 15 women) student-athletes representing Ole Miss.
Ricky Robertson has the world-leading high jump, and recent 2012 SEC Champions Isiah Young (men’s 200 meters) and Rachel Jenkins (women’s long jump) will lead the contingent.
Alabama will have 13 student-athletes compete.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.