EUGENE, Ore. – The Mississippi State track and field team is ready to compete in the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.
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There will be Bulldogs in seven events on the University of Oregon’s track competing for a national title beginning Wednesday.
“We’ve been training all year for what is about to take place this week,” said head coach Chris Woods. “Our young men and women are prepared physically and mentally, now all they have to do is execute, stay focused and have fun while doing it.”
First up, competing June 9, will be the 4x100m relay consisting of Leon Clarke, Cameron Crump, Keldrick Edwards and Shamar Rose in the semifinals, as well as Jesse Henderson in the semis of the 110m hurdles. Sindri Guðmundsson, Tyriq Horsford and DJ Jónsson will compete in the finals of the javelin with Cameron Crump in the finals of the long jump.
Thursday’s competition features only Rosealee Cooper in the semifinals of the 100m hurdles.
Friday will see Keshun Byrd in the triple jump finals, and Shayla Broughton competing in the first four events of the heptathlon. Those who competed in the semifinals on the first two days of competitions will compete in the finals on Friday and Saturday if they advance.
Below is a breakdown of each student-athlete’s season so far.
Shayla Broughton – Heptathlon
Broughton moved into the outdoor season swiftly after being named an All-American in the indoor season for the pentathlon. Her first heptathlon competition of the season came at the Crimson Tide Invitational, where she finished fourth with a then-personal-best point total of 5,312 points. She updated her marks in individual events throughout the season. She finished in fourth at the SEC Championships in the heptathlon with a personal-best point total of 5,758 points, making her No. 2 all-time at State and automatically qualifying her for the NCAA Championships.
Keshun Byrd – Triple Jump
At the Bulldog Relays, the transfer finished second in the triple jump to kick off the season with a personal best at 15.58m. He fouled in the triple at the Florida Relays but then came back to win at the War Eagle Invite. He competed in both the long jump and the triple at the SEC Championships, finishing in 13th for the TJ. At the NCAA Prelims, he broke into the top-five all-time at State with a personal-best triple jump of 16.05m to finish sixth to qualify for Eugene.
Rosealee Cooper – 100m Hurdles
The freshman from Jamaica started her season off hot and kept it that way. At the Florida Relays where she ran to the freshman record in the 100m hurdles. At the War Eagle Invite, she won the hurdles and then made it to the SEC Championships where she finished 11th in the 100m hurdles. She moved on to the NCAA Prelims where she broke the school record in the hurdles in the first round at 12.93w to qualify for the finals where she finished 12th to punch her ticket to Eugene.
Cameron Crump – Long Jump, 4x100m Relay
He began his season off at the Bulldog Relays, finishing second in the long jump with a personal best of 7.79m to boot. He placed fifth in the long jump at the Florida Relays, and then won it at the War Eagle Invitational. He finished fourth in the long jump at the SEC Championships and was named to the SEC All-Newcomer Team after finishing with a personal best of 7.93m to make him second all-time at State. At the NCAA Prelims, he jumped to a seventh-place finish to qualify for the Championships.
Sindri Guðmundsson
The Utah State graduate transfer began his season with the Bulldog Relays, finishing in first at 77.77m, making him the collegiate leader and No. 5 all-time at State en route to being named the SEC Field Athlete of the Week. He returned from injury to compete in the SEC Championships where his seven-week long reign as the collegiate lead was taken over by his teammate but finished second overall. He regained the NCAA lead at the NCAA Prelims where he threw the second-best throw all-time for a prelim to finish first at 79.84m, also making him No. 4 all-time at State.
Jesse Henderson
Began his first outdoor season at the Bulldog Relays where he immediately broke the freshman record in the 110m hurdles to place third at 13.72. At the Florida Relays he came in 10th, but at the Crimson Tide Invite he finished in third to update his records and be named SEC Freshman Runner of the Week. At the War Eagle Invite, he found a first-place finish and followed it up with another win at the Maroon and White Invite to break the school record for the first time at 13.64. The SEC Championships saw him advance to the finals after a seventh-place finish but had a bad start in the finals. At the NCAA Prelims he came in first in round one to break the school record at 13.57, but then re-broke it with his second-place finish in the quarterfinals at 13.39w to qualify for Eugene.
Tyriq Horsford
Started his season in second at the Bulldog Relays at 74.77m. He came in third at the Florida Relays and again at the War Eagle Invitational but found a first-place finish at the Maroon and White Invite at home. Kept his place in the top-10 of the NCAA at the East Prelims with a season-best throw of 75.51m, the No. 5 all-time throw for the prelims according to USTFCCCA to qualify for Eugene.
DJ Jónsson
The freshman came in third at the Bulldog Relays behind his fellow Dawgs with a throw of 74.70m to start the season. At the Florida Relays he won the javelin at 77.25 to move into third in the NCAA rankings and was named SEC Freshman Field Athlete of the Week. He won for the second-straight week at the War Eagle Invite with a new best of 77.33m and was named Freshman Field Athlete of the Week once more. At the SEC Championships he threw to an NCAA-leading mark of 78.66m to become the SEC Champion en route to being All-SEC First Team and All-SEC Freshman Team. He was then named the SEC’s Field Freshman of the Year. At the NCAA Prelims his reign as NCAA leader was cut short but finished second to qualify for Eugene with the fourth-best throw ever at an NCAA prelim.
4x100m Relay
The NCAA qualifying lineup of Clarke, Crump, Edwards and Rose only ran together, and in that order, twice this season. The first was at the SEC Championships where they finished in sixth at a season-best 39.88. At the East Prelims, they finished in 10th to qualify for the Championships in an updated season-best at 39.38.
Bulldog Bites
- This season, the javelin record book was updated to have the top-six all-time throwers at State to all have been coached by April Thomas.
- Sindri Guðmundsson finished just behind MSU at the last two NCAA Championships in third and fourth in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
- The Bulldogs have had at least two men’s javelin qualifiers since 2017. The Dawgs have had eight medalists in the javelin since 2015 – no other school has had more than four in that time span.
- Jesse Henderson and Rosealee Cooper both broke the school records in their respective hurdle events at the NCAA Prelims, with Henderson breaking it twice. They both also own the freshman records in their event. Henderson is now the school record holder in the indoor 60m hurdles and the outdoor 110m hurdles.
- Last Time Out
- The last time a Bulldog men’s 4x100m relay qualified for the National Championships was in 2017.
- Shayla Broughton is MSU’s first heptathlon qualifier since Erica Bougard in 2016, and Rosealee Cooper is the first 100m hurdle qualifier since Bougard in the same year.
- The jumper duo of Byrd and Crump are the first duo to go to Eugene for the Bulldogs since at least 2012.
- Participants in State’s All-Time Rankings
- Cameron Crump – Long Jump: Second
- School record: 8.22mw
- Keshun Byrd – Triple Jump: Fifth
- Fourth: 16.07m
- School record: 16.54m
- Javelin School Record: 87.31m
- Sindri Guðmundsson – Fourth
- Tyriq Horsford – Fifth
- DJ Jónsson – Sixth
- Jesse Henderson – 110m Hurdles: School record holder
- Rosealee Cooper – 100m Hurdles: School record holder
- Shayla Broughton – Heptathlon
- Long Jump: Fifth / Tied for third: 6.41m
- Point Total: Second / School record: 6,288 points
- Cameron Crump – Long Jump: Second
Schedule (all times CT)
Wednesday, June 9
7 p.m. – Men’s 4x100m Relay Semifinal
8:02 p.m. – Men’s 110m Hurdle Semifinal
8:15 p.m. – Men’s Javelin Final
8:30 p.m. – Men’s Long Jump Final
Thursday, June 10
6:32 p.m. – Women’s 100m Hurdle Semifinal
Friday, June 11
2 p.m. – Heptathlon 100m Hurdle
3 p.m. – Heptathlon High Jump
5 p.m. – Heptathlon Shot Put
7:02 p.m. – Men’s 4x100m Relay Final
7:20 p.m. – Men’s Triple Jump Final
7:42 p.m. – Men’s 110m Hurdle Final
8:43 p.m. – Heptathlon 200m
Saturday, June 12
1 p.m. – Heptathlon Long Jump
2:15 p.m. – Heptathlon Javelin
5:42 p.m. – Women’s 100m Hurdle Final
6:43 p.m. – Heptathlon 800m
A full recap and results will be posted each day to HailState.com after completion of competition.
For more information on the Bulldog track and field team, search “HailStateTF” on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
All the best Bull Dogs!! Mississippi State Track & Field Rosealee M. Cooper