Mississippi State has a long tradition of outstanding javelin throwers, but this year, the Bulldogs are shining in the shot put and discus as well.
In total, MSU is sending 17 athletes — 10 men and seven women — to the NCAA outdoor championships next week at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, including all five throwers who qualified for the regional meet in Lexington, Kentucky.
“They’re going to be competing with the best of the best and also have been training all year to get to this moment,” said associate head coach April Thomas, who oversees the Bulldogs’ throwers. “They’re ready, they’re prepared, that’s what they’ve trained for all year, to get the job done. So once they get on that stage, no one’s your friend at that point. Everybody’s out there to try to score points and win and become All-Americans.”
Senior Franck Di Sanza and junior Rémi Routeget will both throw the javelin in Eugene after Di Sanza finished fourth at regionals with a mark of 72.38 meters and Routeget was not far behind at 69.65 meters. Both have been to the NCAA Championships before — Routeget placed ninth overall last year, and Di Sanza finished sixth in 2021 back when he was competing for Southeastern Louisiana.
“(I have) great memories from there,” Di Sanza said. “I was really happy with the meet that I had. The stadium is amazing, it’s really nice. That’s where (world championships) have been. There’s really good energy there, and I’m really excited to go back there three years later.”
The championship meet will be a homecoming of sorts for senior Ella Knott, MSU’s lone javelin qualifier on the women’s side. Knott grew up on the Oregon coast and spent her first three collegiate seasons at Oregon State before transferring to MSU last summer.
She placed seventh in Lexington with a personal best of 51.83 meters and will have many friends and family members in attendance in Eugene.
“I’m going back home, which is really exciting to compete there,” Knott said. “I’ve seen (Hayward Field) a couple times and it’s an amazing facility. This week should be pretty easy. We’re just going to keep doing what we’ve been doing all year. We’ve trained for this moment, so we’re not going to change anything.”
Freshman Roury McCloyen will represent the Bulldogs in both the men’s shot put and discus, and he is the only freshman to qualify in the shot put out of the East Region, finishing 11th with a mark of 18.81 meters. Sophomore Peyton Bair is back in Eugene after finishing 11th last year in the decathlon, currently ranking 10th nationally in that event.
Senior Jhordyn Stallworth rounds out MSU’s qualifiers in the throwing events, taking 11th in the shot put at 16.44 meters to advance to Eugene for the first time.
“This is my last season with the team and it’s truly been an honor being able to compete with Mississippi State across my chest and with these other throwers,” Stallworth said. “This year has been the most cohesive that the team has been, especially within my group. We all get along, we all work hard, we all push each other and we all root each other on.”
The Bulldogs also have senior Rosealee Cooper and sophomore Jessicka Woods competing in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, plus teams for both the 4×100- and 4×400-meter relays. The 17 NCAA qualifiers represent the largest group MSU has sent to the championships in a decade, and the program’s most in Chris Woods’ four full seasons as head coach.
“All of our goals are still out in front of us,” Woods said. “Our team goals that we discussed earlier this season were the men finishing somewhere in the top 10, top 15; the women, their goal was to finish in the top 25, so those goals are still out in front of us, and now we actually have the bullets and the puzzle pieces in place to make that a possibility.”
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