The Ole Miss Track and Field teams wrapped-up their regular season and added impressive results to their resume in February. The Rebels set new all-time marks and built momentum toward the upcoming SEC and NCAA championships.
The Rebels started February with a showcase of speed at the New Mexico Classic on Feb. 6-7. Amid a deep 200-meter field, the Rebels notched three new Top 10 marks. Sophomore star Jordan Urrutia set a school record with a 20.60 mark (converted to 20.67 for altitude), surpassing his own record, standing as the No. 10 mark in the SEC and the No. 17 mark in the NCAA this season.
While Urrutia’s time is one of the best in the NCAA, it still falls short of the national qualification standards. An individual athlete must rank in the Top 16 nationally in order to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
While Urrutia’s No. 17 mark currently places him just outside national qualification, the NCAA takes into account athletes’ best performance before March 1. Since the SEC Indoor Championships will take place on Feb. 26-28, Urrutia will have another chance to qualify.
The Rebels posted more top SEC and NCAA marks on Feb. 13-14 at the Tyson Invitational, hosted by Arkansas. In the men’s weight throw, senior Mason Hickel became the No. 2 Rebel all-time with his throw of 22.25 meters. In addition, Hickel’s mark ranks him No. 5 in the SEC and No. 14 in the NCAA this season.
In the women’s weight throw competition, Akaoma Odeluga and Skylar Soli had big personal records and landed at No. 5 and No. 6, respectively, in Rebel history. Odeluga now ranks No. 2 in the SEC and No. 5 in the NCAA, while Soli ranks No. 3 in the SEC and No. 7 in the NCAA.
In the 60-meter dash, Alicia Burnett ran 7.23 seconds, tying for the No. 3 ranking in program history. Burnett also ranks No. 10 in the SEC and shares the No. 16 ranking in the NCAA.
That same weekend, the Rebel distance crew traveled to the Music City Challenge at Vanderbilt. Here, Sophie Baumann ran 4:37.45 to jump to No. 3 on the Ole Miss all-time rankings in the women’s mile. In the men’s 800-meters competition, Chase Rose ran 1:47.53, and Max Armstrong ran 1:47.77 to become the No. 6 and No. 9 Rebels in history.
Only the men’s distance medley relay squad represented the Rebels at the Alex Wilson Invite at Notre Dame on Feb. 21, Ole Miss’ last regular season meet of the month. The squad, composed of Rose, Carson Turner, Armstrong and Evan Thornton-Sherman, placed No. 5. The Rebels now rank No. 4 in the SEC and hold the No. 12 best time in the NCAA.
In January, the Rebels had many other top NCAA marks. Arvesta Troupe’s high jump mark of 2.23 meters ranks him No. 3 in the NCAA this season, and Sterling Scott’s triple jump mark of 16.14 meters ranks him No. 14 in the NCAA this season.
Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan currently has the No. 1 shot put mark in the NCAA, as well as the No. 4 weight throw mark. Odeluga has the No. 7 mark in the NCAA in women’s shot put.
While it is worth noting that NCAA rankings can change after the conference championships this week, the current rankings still serve as a solid outlook for the Rebels.
Though the Rebels have never won an indoor conference championship, the men’s team is currently ranked No. 12 and the women’s team is ranked No. 25.
The SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships are approaching from Feb. 26-28 and will be hosted by Texas A&M in College Station, Texas. SEC Network will stream the competition, and live results can be found here once the meet starts.
