Four Rebels Earn NCAA Indoor Championships Berth

Jalen Miller and Phillip Young of the Ole Miss men’s team and Brooke Feldmeier and Fabia McDonald of the women’s team will be among the world-class field of competitors at the 2015 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships next week.

The NCAA announced Tuesday night the top 16 accepted men’s and women’s athletes and relays in each event category as qualifiers for the national meet. The championships will be held Friday and Saturday, March 13-14, at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Miller, a sophomore from Tunica, Mississippi, returns to the NCAA Indoor Championships for the second straight year. He was a first team All-American last year when he finished eighth in a time of 6.69. His sophomore campaign has been a sparkling display of sprinting, with an undefeated record in nine races at 60 meters, including the Ole Miss program’s first 60-meter SEC title with a time of 6.56. His season-best mark of 6.55 at the Armory in New York tied the school record and ranks him third nationally this season.

Miller also competed at last year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships and received honorable mention All-America status as a member of the Rebels’ 4×100-meter relay team.

Young, a senior from Key West, Florida, will make his NCAA Indoor Championships debut for Ole Miss next week. He ranks ninth nationally in the triple jump with a season-best mark of 52-9.5 that he achieved in Fayetteville at the Tyson Invitational. Young placed third in the long jump and fourth in the triple jump at last week’s SEC indoor meet.

It’s not the first NCAA Championship appearance for Young, though. He competed for the Rebels in the triple jump at last year’s NCAA outdoor meet, and during his time at Florida State he competed at four different national meets. For his entire career, he is a five-time All-American.

Feldmeier has burst onto the scene with a phenomenal freshman season in the 800 meters. A native of Olympia, Washington, she broke the school record and finished runner-up at the SEC Championships with a time of 2:04.34 that earned her a spot at nationals. She ranks ninth among all 800-meter women in the nation and is the top-rated freshman in the country. Perhaps the most impressive part of her story is that she’s only run handful of “open” 800-meter races in her life, as she was a multi-event specialists during high school.

McDonald is a fifth-year senior from Middletown, Ohio, who will be making her second appearance at an NCAA Indoor Championships and her third NCAA showing overall. McDonald broke her own school record and finished sixth in the ultra-competitive SEC pentathlon last week with a score of 4,168 points. She ranks 13th in the country this year. She was an All-American in 2012 when she placed 15th at the NCAA indoor meet.

Last year, the Ole Miss men tied for 24th at the NCAA Indoor Championships on the back of Sam Kendricks’ runner-up finish in the pole vault and Miller’s eighth-place result in the 60 meters.

The Rebel men have finished top 25 in the country for every indoor and outdoor season since head coach Brian O’Neal took the helm in 2013.

The women have their first representatives since Asia Cooper made the final of the 60 meters in 2013.

In its history, Ole Miss has placed top 25 at the national indoor meet 10 times on the men’s side with a best of ninth in 1991. The women have placed top 25 three times with a best of 13th in 2008.

For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissTrack and on Facebook at Ole Miss Track. And follow Coach O’Neal at @CoachBrianOneal.