Southern Miss had another successful weekend during its second indoor track meet at the Vanderbilt Invitational on Jan. 18-19.
Senior John Warren continues to build off his successful career at Southern Miss. In the triple jump, Warren jumped a 55’2”, which not only broke the previous school record of 53’7.5” but also leads the NCAA and is ranked as the third best jump in indoors in the world.
“John Warren is a very special athlete,” assistant coach John Ellis said. “Not only is he incredibly talented, but his work ethic, dedication, and attention to detail is what allowed him to produce the farthest triple jump in the NCAA and one of the farthest in the world. I’m very proud of the way he has represented our program, the way he encourages our team to be better, and I am very excited to continue working towards more wins and farther jumps.”
Notable teams in attendance were Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt Georgia Tech, Memphis and Conference USA teams Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky and Louisiana Tech.
For the sprinters, senior McKinely West doubled by running in the 60m and 200m dash. West placed second in the 60m dash running a 6.68 and won the 200m dash running a time of 21.44.
In the women’s 400m dash, senior Rian Robinson finished in fourth place with a time of 55.61.
In the men’s 60m hurdles, junior Caleb Parker won his first race of the season running 7.77. In the men’s high jump, junior Eric Richards won the event with a jump of 2.19m Warren doubled and placed fourth in the long with a jump of 7.64m.
In the women’s one mile run, junior Sandra Szpott and sophomore Kate Mattox finished in fourth and eighth place with times of 4:54 and 4:59, respectively.
In the women’s high jump, junior Jamari Drake jumped 1.65m to finish in eighth place. In the long jump, sophomore Rikianne Patterson jumped 6.17m (20’ 3”).
For the throwers, senior Danisha Jones threw 18.71m (61’ 4) in the women’s weight throw.
Southern Miss will return to action in the Kentucky Invitational in Lexington, Kentucky on Feb. 8.
