STARKVILLE, Miss. – With a trip to the SEC Championships in Knoxville, Tenn., ahead of them this week, Mississippi State’s men’s track and field program moved up one spot to No. 20 in the latest USTFCCCA rankings.
The Bulldog men’s team has previously been ranked as high as No. 9 this season and boasts four events in the Top 25 of the #EventSquad rankings. The event rankings compare the average of each team’s top four athletes’ season-best times in that event.
“Our main goal is always nationals,” head coach Steve Dudley said. “Obviously, we’d like to score a good amount of points at the SEC Championships, but we haven’t been running as fast as we can and the other teams are getting faster. It’s going to be a good challenge for us this weekend.
MSU is highest in the 400m hurdles, where the Bulldogs have the second-fastest average time this year. Three of their four runners, Rasheed Tatham, Charles Brockman III and Malcum Tatum, are in the Top 40 in the NCAA this season.
Hurdling success has been a bright spot for MSU this season. The four members of the Championship of America shuttle hurdle relay team make up the Bulldogs’ #EventSquad quartet in the 110m hurdles. MSU is No. 6 with an average time of 14.20.
The 800m group also claimed a Championship of America in the 4x800m relay this year. They hold the eight-fastest average at 1:49.92. That time should drop as two members of the relay, Marco Arop and Dejon Devroe ran faster splits at the Penn Relays than their season bests in the open event.
Finally, MSU’s 400m runners are No. 20 and average 47.49.
The Bulldogs have seven men’s individuals in the Top 10 of the conference along with the fifth-fastest 4x400m relay. The top eight finishers in each event at the conference meet will record points.
For more information on the MSU track and field team, follow the program on Twitter, like them on Facebook and join them on Instagram by searching @HailStateTF. You can also find all access coverage on SnapChat by searching ‘HailStateSnap’.
