Ole Miss track and field finishes strong at NCAAs

Published 6:03 am Sunday, June 12, 2016

EUGENE, Ore. — When the dust settled at the end of the Rebels’ run at the NCAA Outdoor Championships on Friday, it was another historic performance in a season of historic moments for first-year Ole Miss head coach Connie Price-Smith’s team.

All 13 Rebels who qualified for the championships placed among the top 16 in their events at historic Hayward Field to earn All-America honors. That breaks the previous school record of nine outdoor All-Americans set last year in Eugene.

For the week, Ole Miss produced one NCAA champion, one all-time collegiate record, two school records, six first team All-Americans and 13 total All-Americans.

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Top eight finishers who will receive first team All-America distinction were sophomore Raven Saunders (1st, women’s shot put), sophomore Dempsey McGuigan (8th, men’s hammer throw), junior Robert Domanic (6th, men’s 1500 meters), sophomore Craig Engels (7th, men’s 1500 meters), sophomore MJ Erb (8th, men’s 3000-meter steeplechase) and senior Ryan Walling (7th, men’s 5000 meters).

Rebels who finished 9-16 were sophomore Lindsey Murray (15th, women’s pole vault), senior Holland Sherrer (10th, men’s 800 meters), senior Branden Greene (11th, men’s high jump) and sophomore Nicole Henderson, sophomore Shannon Ray, junior Breanna Tate and senior Khadijah Suleman (16th, women’s 4×100-meter relay).

“It’s exciting to see everybody come in here and compete and walk away being an All-American,” Price-Smith said. “It’s a nice ending to a long season for us.”

Ole Miss finished well on Friday as four men earned top-eight results to score team points. The Rebels ended up tied for 26th in the men’s team standings with nine total points. Florida, Arkansas and Texas A&M placed 1-2-3 for a big Southeastern Conference showing.