Track & Field Rebels Ready for NCAA East Prelims

Photo courtesy Joshua McCoy, Ole Miss Athletics

The postseason is here for the Ole Miss track & field teams, who will compete this Thursday-Saturday at the NCAA East Preliminary in Jacksonville, Florida.

Ole Miss has 30 entries (18 men, 12 women) in the prelims, at which the Rebels will seek to qualify for the June 10-13 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.

The top 12 finishers in each event at the University of North Florida’s Hodges Stadium will advance to the national semifinal and final rounds in Eugene. Events begin at noon ET and finish up around 10 p.m. ET each day in Jacksonville.

“Our kids are excited to be in Jacksonville, and we’re ready to compete in the first round of the NCAA Championships,” head coach Brian O’Neal said. “Everything we’ve done all season long has prepared us for where we are. We understand the challenge at hand. Our young men and women are prepared mentally and physically to compete at our best. As always, we want to compete with pride and passion and perform at a high level.”

Ole Miss boasts some of the highest ranked athletes and relays not only in the East region, but in the nation, this season.

For the men, sophomore Craig Engels is fifth nationally and 30th in the world in the 800 meters with a time of 1:46.13 that ranks him No. 2 in school history. Sophomore Jalen Miller is 16th in the NCAA, 38th in the world and No. 3 in the school record books with a 100-meter time of 10.12 that was just .007 of a second shy of an SEC title earlier this month.

Others who rank top 25 nationally are Phillip Young in the triple jump (14th, 52-8.75), the 4×100 relay squad of Quintavius Burdette, Robert Semien, Darryl Brown and Miller (15th, 39.62), Dempsey McGuigan in the hammer throw (17th, 219-6),Holland Sherrer in the 800 (18th, 1:47.47), Branden Greene in the high jump (24th, 7-1) and Semien in the 110 hurdles (25th, 13.73).

Ole Miss’ six entries in men’s middle-distance events are second-most in the country behind Oregon’s seven.

The Rebel women will be led in Jacksonville by freshman phenom Brooke Feldmeier and a pair of standout relay units.

Feldmeier, coming off a spectacular SEC victory in the 800, ranks 15th nationally with her school-record time of 2:03.86 from the LSU Invitational.

The 4×100 relay squad of Nicole Henderson, Shannon Ray, Khadijah Suleman and Jhorden Hunter rank ninth in the country and 26th in the world with their school-record time of 43.80 at LSU. Due to injury, Hunter was replaced by Breanna Tate on the anchor leg for the SEC Championships, at which the quartet placed sixth in 44.35.

In the longer relay, the 4×400 squad of Kiannah Alexander, Deanna Tate, Mercedes Mattix and Feldmeier had a remarkable showing at SECs, clocking a 3:35.90 that ranks them 24th in the nation, 56th in the world and No. 5 in school history.

Individually, Ray’s 11.32 in the 100 ranks her 21st in the country and No. 2 in the school record books.

Additionally, senior Fabia McDonald and freshman Brittany Kelly have automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships in Eugene in the heptathlon by virtue of ranking top 24 nationally. McDonald ranks 14th in the country and 35th in the world (5,736) and will be making her fourth career appearance at an NCAA Championship. Kelly ranks 22nd nationally and 61st in the world (5,531) and will make her first NCAA appearance.

Last year, Ole Miss qualified seven athletes in four different events to Eugene, headlined by NCAA pole vault championSam Kendricks.

Current Rebels who have previously made appearances at the NCAA Outdoor Championships include Miller, Semien, Young and McDonald.

Listed below are the Rebels’ entries in the NCAA East Preliminary Round.

MEN:

Name — Event — East Region Seed — Mark
Craig Engels — 800m — 4 — 1:46.13
Jalen Miller — 100m — 5 — 10.12
Sean Tobin — 1500m — 9 — 3:42.17
Burdette, Semien, Brown, Miller — 4x100m Relay — 9 — 39.62
Branden Greene — High Jump — 9 — 2.16m/7-1
Phillip Young — Triple Jump — 10 — 16.07m/52-8.75
Dempsey McGuigan — Hammer — 11 — 66.90m/219-6
Holland Sherrer — 800m — 14 — 1:47.47
Robert Semien — 110m Hurdles — 14 — 13.73
Adam Aguirre — High Jump — 15 — 2.13m/6-11.75
Robert Domanic — 1500m — 17 — 3:43.75
Phillip Young — Long Jump — 17 — 7.64m/25-0.75
Nathan Loe — Hammer — 21 — 64.26m/210-10
Trevor Gilley — 5000m — 25 — 14:03.49
Dameon Morgan — 800m — 32 — 1:48.88
Trevor Gilley — 1500m — 42 — 3:45.60
Kevin Conway — Discus — 42 — 53.35m/175-0
Kevin Conway — Hammer — 44 — 61.27m/201-0

WOMEN:

Name — Event — East Region Seed — Mark
Henderson, Ray, Suleman, Hunter — 4x100m Relay — 5 — 43.80
Brooke Feldmeier — 800m — 6 — 2:03.86
Shannon Ray — 100m — 10 — 11.32
Alexander, D. Tate, Mattix, Feldmeier — 4x400m Relay — 17 — 3:35.90
Fabia McDonald — Long Jump — 23 — 6.16m/20-2.5
Brittany Kelly — High Jump — 29 — 1.76m/5-9.25
Shannon Ray — 200m — 30 — 23.58
Khadijah Suleman — 100m — 31 — 11.52
Nicole Henderson — 200m — 33 — 23.59
Kierra White — Long Jump — 36 — 6.12m/20-1
Mary Alex England — 10,000m — 42 — 34:56.46
Khadijah Suleman — 200m — 45 — 23.73

For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissTrack, as well as Facebook andInstagram. And follow Coach O’Neal at @CoachBrianOneal.