MCC Track Posts Top 5 Finish at South Alabama Invitational

From School Reports

Birmingham, AL - MCC was back on the track Sunday as they competed Sunday at the South Alabama Invitational at the Birmingham CrossPlex. MCC saw their men's team post a fifth place finish in the seventeen team meet in their preparation for the NJCAA National Championships in a months time.

The highlight of the afternoon was the quartet of James Burnett, Stephan Holcombe, Andre Burrell and Kobey Hill as they broke the school record and meet record in the 4x400 meter relay to finish out the day and to win the event with a time of 3:14.49.  MCC saw themselves in the second heat and watched as Southern Miss posted a time of 3:15.35 in the first heat.  MCC led wire to wire in their heat beating Alabama State by ten seconds.

"I thought we started out a little sluggish early on, but I think as the day went on we picked up momentum and really got in the rhythm of things," said Head Coach Chip Gayden.  "It was great to see our relay run and break both the school record and meet record.  I challenged those guys to go out and compete against the clock and they did just that."

MCC saw their mid-distance group continue to excel as Kobey Hill and Noah Smith posted seventh and eighth place finishes in the event with both men posting times of 1:55.98 and 1:56.24.  

In the men's 200 meters, MCC saw Marcus Reaves and Stephan Holcombe punch their tickets for the NJCAA National Championships in the event with both guys posting times of 21.70 and 21.79.

In the men's 400 meters, all three entries in the event posted top 10 finishes as James Burnett led the way with a fourth place finish with a time of 49.85.  He was followed by Tahj Meadows who finished fifth with a time of 49.92 and Andre Burrell finished tenth with a time of 50.08.

In the distance events, Rogelio Araiza competed in both the 3,000 meterninvitational race as well as the 5,000 meters later in the day.  Araiza didn't disappoint as he finished fourth in the 3,000 meter invitational with a time of 8:55.98 and followed it up with a third place finish in the 5,000 meter race with a time of 15:45.84.

On the women's side, Ashley Henderson led the way with a second place finish in the 200 meters with a time of 24.46.  MCC also saw success in the 60 meter hurdles as Shaliyah Dixon-Tucker posted a twelfth place finish with a time of 8.96.  Zaria Husband posted a time of 9.19 to finish twenty first.

Next up for MCC is the Samford Open at the Birmingham CrossPlex on Saturday.