HottyToddy.com’s Daily Ole Miss Sports Roundup

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Today’s roundup features Ole Miss Sports.

Ole Miss Heads to NCAA Track & Field East Preliminary

Ole Miss Track and Field Head Coach Connie Price-Smith
Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics.

Ole Miss athletes are primed and ready for the NCAA Track & Field East Preliminary Championships, held Thursday–Saturday at Hodges Stadium on the campus of the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

The Rebels’ 33 entries and 32 athletes at the prelims are the most in program history since the NCAA adopted the current regional format in 2010. Among the 32 athletes are 17 men and 15 women, competing in 18 different events.

The goal for each athlete and relay in Jacksonville will be to finish in the top 12 out of 48 competitors (or 24 relay squads). The top 12 finishers in each event will qualify for the national semifinal and final rounds of the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships to be held June 8-11 at historic Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon.

Last year, Ole Miss produced school records with 14 qualifiers and 17 athletes making it to Eugene, which led to a school-record nine outdoor All-Americans.

Under the direction of first-year head coach Connie Price-Smith, Ole Miss is coming off a performance at the SEC Outdoor Championships that include three event titles (Craig Engels – men’s 1500m, Branden Greene – men’s high jump, Raven Saunders – women’s shot put) and a tie for the second-best men’s SEC outdoor finish in program history.

Head Coach Connie Price-Smith Says:
“We have a great group of athletes, and we’re excited to watch them compete. It should be a really quality competition, and they will do their best to have great results.”

Notables:
• The Rebel men matched their second-best finish in school history at the SEC Outdoor Championships (fifth place) after they placed third at the SEC Indoor Championships (best finish since 1984).
• Three Ole Miss Rebels were crowned SEC outdoor champions in Tuscaloosa: Craig Engels (men’s 1500m), Branden Greene (men’s high jump) and Raven Saunders (women’s shot put).
• This is the inaugural season of the Connie Price-Smith era at Ole Miss.
• Returning to the NCAA Preliminary Round on the men’s side are Kevin Conway, Robert Domanic, Craig Engels, MJ Erb, Wesley Gallagher, Trevor Gilley, Branden Greene, Nathan Loe, Ryan Manahan, Dempsey McGuigan, Dameon Morgan, Holland Sherrer, Sean Tobin and Ryan Walling.
• Ole Miss women who have previously competed at the prelims are Kiannah Alexander, Nicole Henderson, Lindsey Murray, Shannon Ray, Raven Saunders, Khadijah Suleman, Breanna Tate and Deanna Tate.
• First-time NCAA Preliminary qualifiers include Barclay Angle, Derek Gutierrez, Mark Robertson, Emily Bean, Jolie Carbo, McKenna Coughlin, Katy McAuley, Aisha Newsome, Bo Ummels and Britt Ummels.
• Current Rebels who have made appearances at the NCAA Outdoor Championships include Domanic, Engels, Gallagher, Gilley, Greene and Sherrer for the men, and Henderson, Ray, Saunders and Suleman for the women.
• Sophomore Raven Saunders is the 2016 SEC indoor and outdoor shot put champion and a two-time NCAA shot put champion last year while at Southern Illinois.
• Saunders has set school records in the shot (18.75m/61-6.25 – No. 1 in NCAA) and discus (56.85m/186-6).
• Saunders now has the best indoor and outdoor shot put marks ever by an SEC woman.
• Ole Miss boasts four of the top 23 men’s 1500m runners in the nation … Sophomore Craig Engels is No. 3 (school-record 3:38.82), junior Robert Domanic is No. 15 (PR 3:40.95), junior Trevor Gilley is 18th (PR 3:41.77), and junior Sean Tobin is 23rd (3:42.14) … They hold the top four spots in school history.
• Sophomore Dempsey McGuigan owns the school hammer throw record (69.90m/229-4 – No. 12 in NCAA).
• Sophomore Lindsey Murray is the only female pole vaulter in school history to clear 14 feet (4.34m/14-2.75).

Ole Miss Entries in the 2016 NCAA East Preliminary Round:

MEN: 

Name – Event – East Region Seed – Mark
Dameon Morgan – 800m – 15 – 1:47.55
Holland Sherrer – 800m – 28 – 1:48.55
Craig Engels – 1500m – 2 – 3:38.82
Robert Domanic – 1500m – 7 – 3:40.95
Trevor Gilley – 1500m – 8 – 3:41.77
Sean Tobin – 1500m – 10 – 3:42.14
Ryan Manahan – 1500m – 40 – 3:45.14
Derek Gutierrez – 1500m – 47 – 3:45.55
MJ Erb – 3000m steeplechase – 6 – 8:43.06
Ryan Walling – 5000m – 8 – 13:49.44
Wesley Gallagher – 10,000m – 10 – 29:13.67
Mark Robertson – 10,000m – 47 – 29:49.02
Branden Greene – high jump – 8 – 2.19m/7-2.25
Barclay Angle – pole vault – 45 – 5.06m/16-7.25
Dempsey McGuigan – hammer throw – 8 – 69.90m/229-4
Nathan Loe – hammer throw – 22 – 65.41m/214-7
Kevin Conway – hammer throw – 43 – 62.63m/205-6

WOMEN:

Name – Event – East Region Seed – Mark
Khadijah Suleman – 100m – 14 – 11.39
Shannon Ray – 100m – 32 – 11.50
Khadijah Suleman – 200m – 19 – 23.26
Breanna Tate – 200m – 26 – 23.43
Shannon Ray – 200m – 39 – 23.71
Nicole Henderson – 200m – 43 – 23.76
Britt Ummels – 1500m – 21 – 4:21.63
Bo Ummels – 1500m – 39 – 4:23.16
McKenna Coughlin – 3000m steeplechase – 39 – 10:27.68
Emily Bean – 10,000m – 7 – 33:39.36
Henderson, Ray, B. Tate, Suleman – 4x100m relay – 8 – 44.03
Alexander, Carbo, A. Newsome, D. Tate – 4x400m relay – 18 – 3:36.44
Lindsey Murray – pole vault – 7 – 4.34m/14-2.75
Katy McAuley – pole vault – 42 – 4.04m/13-3
Raven Saunders – shot put – 1 – 18.75m/61-6.25
Raven Saunders – discus – 4 – 56.85m/186-6

For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field, follow the Rebels on Twitter at @OleMissTrack, as well as Facebook and Instagram.

Courtesy of Ole Miss Sports

Ole Miss’ Hartono Advances in NCAA Singles Championship

Photo by Joshua McCoy/Ole Miss Athletics.

Ole Miss women’s tennis sophomore Arianne Hartono stepped on to the court at the Michael D. Case Tennis Center Wednesday in her first ever NCAA singles appearance and left the court a winner.

Hartono defeated NC State’s Martina Frantova 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the second round where she will face Saska Gavrilovska of Texas A&M at 11 a.m. Gavriloska knocked out 9-16 seed Stephanie Wagner of Miami in the first round.

Play was delayed with early rains in the morning, but Hartono got off to a fast start in the match. She broke Frantova early and led 3-0 before closing out the set. The two traded breaks in the second set, but at 4-4, Hartono broke and served out the match.

Notables…
• Hartono improved to 21-13 on the year. She snapped a four-match losing streak with the win.
• This will be the second meeting between Hartono and Gavriloska. In the dual match during the regular season, Gavriloska won 6-2, 6-1.
• Hartono and Mai El Kamash will begin doubles Thursday against fourth-seeded Maegan Manasse and Denise Star of California. The match is slated to start at 3 p.m.

What’s at stake?…
Besides the obvious quest of winning a national championship players can earn All-America honors by advancing to the round of 16 in singles or the quarterfinals in doubles.

Quoting head coach Mark Beyers…
“This was a solid win for Arianne in tough and windy conditions. Every player in this draw has had a great year, so any time you can advance it is a good thing. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s second round match as well as our first round of doubles.”

For more information on Ole Miss Men’s Tennis, follow the Rebels on Twitter @OleMissWTennis, on Facebook at OleMissWTennis and on Instagram at OleMissWTennis, follow Coach Beyers on Twitter at @MarkBeyers.

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