Cory Miller runs the third leg in the Men’s 4x200m Relay at the John Mitchell Alabama Relays in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The Southern Miss Mens 4x200m team finished second overall with a time of 1:24.83, which is a school record. March 20, 2015. Southern Miss hosted a meet this weekend by starting to finish up this years season. – Courtesy Photo by Courtland Welles
Southern Miss tallied a season-best 10 first place finishes Saturday in the Southern Miss Invitational.
Before the running events got started, Southern Miss already had first, second and third place finishes. Rachel Polk, Kayla Taylor and Brashe Wood finished in the top three of the women’s shot put for USM, sweeping the field. Polk’s best throw went 14.59m, good enough for a first place finish. Taylor’s best throw went for 13.53m for second place and Wood came in third with 12.76m.
Polk was not finished collecting first place medals, finishing in first in discus as well with a throw of 49.94m. Taylor again finished behind teammate Polk for a second place finish, throwing 49.55m. Wood finished in fifth place with a throw of 39.74m.
The Lady Eagles continued to dominate the invitational by winning the women’s 4×100 relay. LaSpencia Brown, Jazmyne Gilliam, Adriana Allen and Mariam Kromah combined to finish with a time of 45.41 seconds to give Southern Miss its third event champion of the day.
Allen, Kromah, Gilliam and Talia Thompson took home another first place finish in the 4×400 meter relay. The Lady Eagles finished four seconds in front of second place finisher Kennesaw State with a time of 3:52.90.
Kristin Zarrella picked up a first place medal as well, finishing two seconds ahead of second place finisher, Andzelika Bobrova, with a time of two minutes and 15 seconds in the 800 meter dash. Her best lap took one minute and five seconds.
Allen was not finished racking up first place finishes. Allen finished first in all three of the events she competed in. She earned her third event championship of the day in the 400 meter dash with a time of 54.55 seconds.
For the men, Robert Wells finished third in the 100 meter dash and took the top spot in the 200 meter with times of 10.89 and 21.66 seconds, respectively. Cory Miller finished third for the Golden Eagles in the event, running it in 21.88 seconds.
In the 400 meter dash, Elbert Rogers and Derrick Johnson finished first and second with times of 46.73 seconds and 47.93 seconds, respectively. The combination of Johnson, Miller, Wells and Jamad Smith put on a show for the rest of the teams in the invitational. The four Golden Eagles finished in 40.37 seconds in the 4×100 meter relay to win the event with the second place finisher just two-tenths of a second behind with a time of 40.57.
The men’s team pulled out a nail biter in the 4×400 relay as Johnson, Miller, Rogers and Wells came out on top. Nearing the end of the race, Southern Miss was down when Wells passed up Alex Saunders in the last stretch for the victory. Southern Miss finished with a time of 3:13.59 while Southern University at New Orleans came in second at 3:14.15 for the closest contest of the day for the Golden Eagles.
Southern Miss was not able to get a first place finisher in the jumping events, but still performed well. High jumper Courtland Wells came in second finishing one inch out of first place with a jump of 2.06m just behind Seth Peace of Mississippi State, who jumped 2.14m.
Chad Cook came up just short as he finished second in the long jump, jumping 6.86m. Solomon Atosona from Stillman University came in first with a jump of 6.87m. Jamar Sims finished third for the Golden Eagles, jumping 6.85m.
Southern Miss returns to action May 2, when Mississippi State hosts the Jace LaCoste Invitational in Starkville, Mississippi.
