MCC Track Builds Momentum With Solid Recruting

From School Reports

Over the last several months, Meridian Community College has been signing track and field student-athletes across the South to National Letters of Intent, for the return of their track and field and cross country programs.  Coach Gayden has built a recruiting class that brings depth, and balance across the program. 

“From the beginning, I knew that we would need to be a balanced team across the board.  We would need to be able to score points in as many events as possible to be competitive at the national level and I think we have done that,” Coach Gayden said.

MCC’s recruiting class includes 11 men and 3 women, who look to help restore MCC as a dominate track and field program on the national stage.

“This recruiting class really helps lay the foundation of what we want to do.” Coach Gayden said.  “It includes a great amount of talent in numerous events, and student-athletes that we believe can compete on the national stage at the NJCAA National Championships.”

The men are led by Chris Lewis, K’Lan Harris, Antonio Owens, Traveon Gayden, Bryson Penton, Ollie Tate, Orlando Tate, Lakendric Tuck, Raekwon Marrow, Devontre Young and Josh Austin. 

Leading the program in the sprints will be Chris Lewis, Antonio Owens, Traveon Gayden and Ollie Tate. 

Lewis is a 100 and 200 meter sprinter from Lakeside High School in Sibley, LA.  Lewis is currently ranked 20^th nationally in the 100 meters with a personal best of 10.39 and 9^th nationally in the 200 meters with a personal best of 20.95.

Owens, from Meridian High School is a 100 and 200 meter sprinter.  Owens was one of the top sprinters in Mississippi with a personal best of 21.20 in the 200 meters.  His personal best ranked him amongst the best in the country as a junior.

Traveon Gayden arrives at MCC as one of the state’s top 200 meter runners.  Gayden comes to MCC from Ocean Springs High School in Ocean Springs, MS.  Gayden comes to MCC after being ranked fifth in the state of Mississippi in the 200 meters with a personal best of 21.85 his junior year.

Ollie Tate is from Yazoo County High School in Yazoo City, MS where he was one of the top 400 meter runners in the state of Mississippi.  Tate boasts a personal best of 49.87 in the 400 meters.  He is also the twin brother of Orlando Tate.

Coach Gayden said this group has the ability to build a great sprint group at MCC, “This group really has a lot of talent in every sprint event and gives us the ability to score in the 100,200 and 400 meters.”

The MCC hurdle group will be led by Bryson Penton, Orlando Tate and Raekwon Marrow.

Penton comes to MCC from Pearl River Central High School in Carriere, MS.  Penton was one of the top sprinters and hurdlers in Mississippi.  He has a personal best of 10.84 in the 100 meters and 40.86 in the 300 meter hurdles.

Orlando Tate, is from Yazoo County High School in Yazoo City, MS joining his twin brother Ollie Tate.  Orlando was one of the top hurdlers in Mississippi and was the 2014 6A State Champion in the 300 meter hurdles.  Orlando comes to MCC with personal bests of 15.19 in the 110 meter hurdles and 39.68 in the 300 meter hurdles.

Marrow, a Florida native, joins the MCC program from Wolfson High School in Jacksonville, FL.  At Wolfson, Marrow was ranked in the top 20 in the state in the 300 meter hurdles.  Marrow comes to MCC with personal bests of 14.53 in the 110 meter hurdles and 38.72 in the 300 meter hurdles.

“This group has the ability to help us in the 110 meter hurdles and the 400 hurdles along with assist us on our 4x400 meter relay.  The have the ability to do a lot of things for us and helping us build a great group of hurdlers,” Coach Gayden said.

The jumps group is led by K’Lan Harris, Lakendric Tuck, and Devontre Young.

Harris comes to MCC as one of the top ranked long jumpers in the country.  Out of Henry County High School in Georgia, Harris was ranked #10 nationally in the long jump in the 2013.  As a junior, Harris posted a personal best of 23’10 in the long jump last season. In 2014 he was the Georgia Olympics runner-up in the long jump.  Harris also boasts a personal best of 48.71 in the 400 meters.

Tuck joins the MCC program by way of Harrison Central High School in Gulfport, MS.   Tuck was the 6A runner-up in the 6A State Championship in the long jump and the 6A State Champion in the triple jump.  Tuck was ranked 2^nd in Mississippi in the long jump with a personal best of 23-9 and first in the state in the triple jump with a personal best of 48-6.5.

Young comes to MCC from Harrison High School in Kennesaw, GA.  Young was one of the top high jumpers and 400 meter runners in the state of Georgia as a senior.  During his senior year, Young boasted personal bests in the high jump with a mark of 6-8 and a personal best in the 400 meters with a 49.26.

Coach Gayden believes this group has the opportunity to do a lot of things and has a great amount of depth. “This group has the ability to score really well at the national meets in their respective jumping events, but also the opportunity to score for us in the 400 meters or the 4x400 meter relay. “

In the middle distance group the team is led by Josh Austin. Austin comes to MCC by way of Brandon High School in Brandon, MS.  While at Brandon, Austin captured the 2014 6A State Championship in the 800 meters with a personal best of 1:59.  His time at the state meet was good enough to rank him 2^nd in the state of Mississippi in the 800 meters.

“Josh has the ability to do a lot of special things for us in the 800 meters.  He is very talented and runs with a lot of heart and has a great upside,” Coach Gayden said.

The women’s program is led by three women in Esmeralda Rodriguez, Breonnah Thomas and Jocindra Glee.

Rodriguez comes to MCC from Lafayette High School in Oxford, MS.  Rodriguez was one of the top senior female distance runners in Mississippi.  She comes to MCC with personal best of 12:15 in the 3200 meters on the track and 15:51.90 in cross-country.

Breonnah Thomas joins the MCC program from Phenix City, AL and Central High School.  Thomas comes in as one of the top 400/800 runners in Alabama.  Thomas has personal bests of 59.14 in the 400 meters and 2:23.60 in the 800 meters.

Glee, from Evans High School in Orlando, FL, joins the program to compete in the 400 meters, 400 hurdles and triple jump.  Glee comes to MCC with personal bests of 1:05.21 in the 400 hurdles and 58.66 in the 400 meters.

Coach Gayden said he has 30 walk-on’s that will be joining the program in the fall to go along with these 13 signees in the fall, “We have a good group of walk-on’s that are coming in that I believe will really bring a great amount of depth to our program and have the ability to work their way up to being scorers at the national meet for us in both open events and on relays.”

Coach Gayden is eager to start practice with this team with the return of the program right around the corner, “This group is a very talented group, that will have the opportunity to really surprise a lot of people and be a contender at national championship meets and I am excited to get started.”

Meridian Community College will make its long awaited return to competition on August 30 with the cross country team, at the MC Season Opener, hosted by Mississippi