A hamstring injury and admitted underperformance marred Tavaris Tate”s sophomore season at Mississippi State.
Beginning today in Eugene, Ore., Tate hopes to return to form at the 2011 U.S.A. Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
The U.S.A. Championships serve as the selection event for the coveted spots to represent Team U.S.A. at the IAAF World Championships Aug. 27- Sept. 4 in Daegu, South Korea.
Tate, who will run the open 400 meters, placed fourth in the event last year in Des Moines, Iowa, where he ran a personal-best 44.84 seconds.
The Starkville native ran a disappointing 46.23 in the 400 in the preliminaries of the NCAA championships and didn”t qualify for the final. However, he ran the anchor leg of the 4×400 and helped MSU finish third with a school-record time of 3 minutes, 1.56 second mark.
Tate said his hamstring, which forced him to miss the Southeastern Conference Championship, is healed.
“I”m feeling all right now,” Tate said. “I had a little mishap and didn”t make the finals at NCAAs, so I”m just trying to stay focused and rekindle some of that magic. I”ve competed against most everyone out here. It”ll be no different than any other track meet.”
Tate will race against four-time Olympic medalist Jeremy Wariner, University of Florida sprinter Tony McQuay and Greg Nixon, who won the 400 at the U.S.A Outdoor Nationals last year.
Tate will hit the track at 5 p.m. today for the preliminaries. The semifinals will be at 7:45 p.m. Friday, and the finals will be at 4:04 p.m. Saturday.
The meet will be broadcast at 10 p.m. Friday (ESPN2), 4 p.m. Saturday (WTVA), and 4 p.m. Sunday.
The stark contrast between Tate”s freshman and sophomore seasons has the sprinter feeling like the forgotten man entering today”s competition.
“The season I had kind of had me in a depressing state of mind, knowing I wasn”t getting the times,” Tate said. “But it also motivated me to work that much harder. I know I have the gift and it didn”t go nowhere. The setbacks shouldn”t make you doubt yourself. My mental preparation for this meet has been outstanding.”
Tate is no stranger to the national and international stage. He won the 400 at the 2009 Nike Indoor Nationals and took silver at the 2009 Pan-Am Games. Tate also won the 400 at the Under-23 Championships in Miami last season. He placed fourth at the 2010 World Indoors.
“Eugene is track town USA,” Tate said. “I know that crowd is going to be amazing considering it”s USAs and everybody”s out to make the team. I can”t get overwhelmed.”
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