The Ole Miss track and field program is preparing for the John McDonnell Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas this weekend. The program last saw action this past weekend when the team competed at the University of Florida. With the SEC outdoor championships coming soon, the Rebels will look to continue their success this weekend at the University of Arkansas.
The Rebels had an impressive outing last weekend at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida. Ole Miss had great performances on both the men’s and women’s side. The women had multiple top-three finishes, while the men saw many personal records broken.
Results from the Tom Jones Memorial include a dominant performance in the women’s throws by senior Shey Taiwo and sophomore Jalani Davis and a first-place finish in the women’s 3k race by teammate Nicole Rice. The men’s side also saw two top 5 performances in the 800-meter against the stacked competition.
Taiwo took home first-place in the hammer throw with a distance of 66.35 meters (217-08). She crushed her own personal record and moved up to No. 3 all-time in Ole Miss history.Davis also came away with a personal record in the women’s shot put. Her throw of 17.01 meters (55-09.75) earned her second place at the meet, and the throw lands her currently at No. 18 in the NCAA.
Rice took home the gold in the women’s 3k race. Her time of 10:02.38 was almost 10 seconds faster than the closest competitor. Teammate Brooke Gilmore finished third with a time of 10:26.18.
The men’s 800-meter race saw three Ole Miss top-10 finishes. All-American senior Waleed Suliman finished with first-place and a No.10 NCAA time of 1:47.74. Suliman had not run the 800-meter since his freshman year but came close to his personal record in his first attempt this year. Teammates Everett Smulders and Marcus Dropik were not far behind with times of 1:50.30 (5th place) and 1:50.70 (9th place) respectively. Both Smulders and Dropik finished with personal records.
Other Rebels in action include women’s 800-meter runner Sintayehu Vissa, finishing in fifth place with a personal record and No.16 in the NCAA. Her time of 2:05.01 lands her in the Ole Miss record book with the second-best time in school history. Pole vaulter Lyndsey Reed finished fourth in the high jump with a height of 4.05 meters/13-03.50. Sophomore Joseph Lanham finished eighth in the men’s hammer throw (57.11 meters /187-04). Lanham’s throw was his personal record landing him tenth all-time at Ole Miss.
The Rebels will start the competition at the John McDonnell Invitational on Friday, April 23, with field events beginning at 1:00 p.m. and running events starting at 5:00 p.m. Events will continue all day Saturday starting at 10:00 a.m..
