MCC Track Posts Top Marks at LSU and Mississippi College

From School Reports

Meridian, MS – MCC returned to the track last Saturday as the teams split up going to Baton Rouge for the  LSU Alumni Gold and the Choctaw Open at Mississippi College and came away with some of the top marks in the NJCAA.

“We had a great weekend at both LSU and Mississippi College,” said Head Coach Chip Gayden.  “We thought to get the most out of this weekend, it was best to take our sprinters and jumpers to LSU and compete against them especially in the 4x100 and take our women’s team and the rest of our men to Mississippi College.  We couldn’t be more pleased with the results, because we continue to show improvement.”

In Baton Rouge, MCC competed against some of the top competition in the country including host LSU, Wisconsin, Penn State, Southern Miss, Arizona and several others.

MCC showed up to compete being led by their vaunted 4x100 relay team as they went head to head with LSU who currently holds the second fastest time in college.  MCC finished second behind LSU in the event with a time of 39.94 edging out a foursome of LSU alumni that included two Olympic medalists in Damar Forbes and Richard Thompson.

MCC also saw success in the 100 meters as Kendrick Smith and Chris Lewis posted the third and seventh fastest times in the NJCAA with times of 10.28 and 10.39 placing 5^th and 8^th respectively.

MCC also saw success in the 400 meters at LSU as it saw Bryson Penton (48.68 10^th), Marquis Adams(48.75 13^th) , Devontre Young (48.99 14^th) and Eric Durham (49.20 16^th) all place in the top 20. 

In the long jump, K’lan Harris posted a fourth place finish in the event with a mark of 6.98 meters (22-11).

At the Choctaw Open hosted by Mississippi College the day was led by a big jump by freshman Crystal Pettigrew on the women’s team.

Pettigrew posted a victory in the women’s long jump with a mark of 5.84 meters (19-2) in the long jump. Pettigrew’s jump was almost a two feet better than the second place finisher.  Her jump ranks her 9^th in the NJCAA.  Pettigrew also finished second in the women’s triple jump with a mark of 10.53 meters (34-6.75)

“I am so excited for Crystal and she has worked extremely hard to get to where she is,” said Gayden.  “She comes in day in and day out trying to get better and to post a three foot personal best in the long jump and qualify for nationals is huge for her.”

In the 100 and 200 meters MCC’s Justin Johnson finished fourth overall in the 100 with a time of 10.90 and then followed it up with a fifth place finish in the 200 meters with a time of 22.29.

In the 400 meter hurdles, Jocindra Glee posted the victory with a time of 1:05.02.  Her time was over a second faster than the second place finisher.

Tyler Warren took to the track in the 3000 meter steeplechase and posted a second place finish with a time of 10:46.58.  Warren improved by over 15 seconds from his last race at Mississippi College where he won the event.

In the throws, Hayden Tharpe posted a second place finish in the shotput with a mark of 14.10 meters (46-3.25) and a sixth place finish in the discus with a throw of 39.65 meters (130-1). Anthony Jones finished fifth in the discus with a throw of 41.31 meters (135-06).

MCC currently has two women qualified for the NJCAA National Championships in two events and 11 men qualified in eight events.

MCC will return to the track next Saturday at the Southern Miss Invitational in Hattiesburg, MS.