Kelby ZendejasAfter a competitive stint at the Indoor NCAA Championships, the Ole Miss men’s and women’s track and field teams will head to the Tiger Track Classic in Auburn, Ala., for their debut outdoor season track competition.
During the NCAA Indoor Championships, the Ole Miss men’s team finished in 10th place, which is the best the team has done since 2001. Meanwhile, the women’s team finished in 19th place. The Rebels earned 12 First-Team All-American honors combined and four Second-Team All-American honors.
The men’s distance running medley earned second place in the race. Senior Elijah Dryer, sophomore Mario Garcia Romo, and seniors John Rivera Jr. and Everett Smulders all earned First-Team All-American awards for their time of 9:20.75.
Garcia Romo also earned a men’s 3K award, making him the first Rebel to score in multiple events at the NCAA Indoor meet in program history. Also running the men’s 3K was teammate Waleed Suliman who earned Second-Team All-American honors as well as First-Team honors for his men’s mile time.
“I am so proud of the way our men and women competed this weekend,” Ole Miss head coach Connie Price-Smith said through Ole Miss Athletics. “The men’s (distance running medley) was simply amazing to watch, and Waleed in the mile and Mario in the 3K was a job well done. A top-10 finish is the icing on the cake for the indoor season.”
Meanwhile, the Rebel women earned six First-Team All-American honors with women’s weight throwers Shey Taiwo in third place and Jasmine Mitchell fourth place. This 19th place finish marks the second top-20 finish for women in the last five years after only placing in the top-20 two times prior in the program’s history.
“Great job on a wonderful indoor season to both our men’s and women’s teams,” Price-Smith said. “At the beginning of the year and as the season started to unfold, it was hard to tell how the indoor season would end, but I couldn’t be happier with the way our athletes competed. Thanks to this great coaching staff for getting them ready, and I can’t wait to see what outdoors will bring.”
The program released its outdoor schedule last week, which features two home meets and four additional regular-season trips to SEC schools. The Rebels will host a meet for the first time in two years and in back-to-back efforts, with the first being the Ole Miss Classic on March 26-27 and the second being the Joe Walker Invite on April 9-10.
Also included in the 2021 outdoor slate is the Tom Jones Classic in Gainesville, Fla., and the LSU Invitational in Baton Rouge, La. Postseason will begin on May 13-15 for the SEC Outdoor Championships.
Ole Miss Athletics says the attendance plan for the two home meets will be announced closer to the date.
The Rebels are bound to take on the Auburn Tigers at their next meet. The Tigers finished the NCAA Tournament tied at No. 42 for the men, while the women finished in the top-10 right at 10th place. The Rebels beat the Tigers during the SEC Indoor Championships with the men’s team placing No. 4 and the women’s team placing No. 7. The Tigers finished at No. 8 for the men and No. 10 for the women.
The Tiger Classic will begin on March 19 and will last through March 20 for all-day events.
