DES MOINES, Iowa — The University of Mississippi and University of Alabama track and field teams will kick off competition at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships today.
Ole Miss will feature a school-record 16 student-athletes at the meet, which runs through Saturday at Drake Stadium.
CBS will provide television coverage from noon to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday. CBS Sports Network also will provide coverage from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Friday.
The Rebels will compete in 13 events. The record of 16 athletes breaks the program”s previous best mark of 15 participants set last year. Ole Miss will take a school-record nine women and seven men.
Sophomore Ricky Robertson, the Southeastern Conference high jump champion, is second in the nation with a season-best mark of 7 feet, 6 inches. He tied for first in the event at the NCAA East Preliminary last weekend in Bloomington, Ind.
SEC champion Lee Ellis Moore and junior Carson Blanks rank sixth and 13th in the nation, respectively, in the 400-meter hurdles. They will compete at 8:30 p.m. today in the semifinals.
Sophomore Mike Granger will run in the semifinals of the 100 at 7:30 p.m. today, and senior Jonathan Juin will take part in the semifinals of the 200 at 5:45 p.m. Thursday.
Caleb Lee (long jump) and Morris Kersh (triple jump) also will compete.
On the women”s side, senior Sofie Persson will run in the semifinals of the 400 hurdles at 8:15 tonight.
Juliana Smith (hammer throw), Neal Tisher (pole vault), Marci Morman (triple jump), the 4×400 team of Lauren Hollingsworth, Kristin Bridges, Sofia Hellberg-Jonsen, and the 4×100 team of Bridges, Hollingsworth, Jasmine Williams, and LaJada Baldwin also will compete.
Allen Baswell was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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