January 7, 2007

JSU MEN'S TRACK TEAM PERFORMS WELL AT EDWARD TEMPLE CLASSIC 1/7/2007 Nashville, Tenn. -- The Jackson State University men's track and field team continues to have stellar performances in the second half of the indoor season. The Tigers recorded four first place finishes in the 2007 Edward Temple Indoor Classic hosted by Tennessee State University Sunday afternoon. LaVarius Giles continues to dominate the short sprints by winning the 55 meter dash with a time of 6.30 seconds. Eric Speer continues his assault on the middle distances as he won the mile with a time of 4:29.55. Freshman Kevin Itima won his first collegiate meet by finishing the 800 m dash with a time of 1:57.91. The JSU distance medley relay team (Speer Dabodrick Walton, Itima, and Courtney Irby) won with a time of 10:33.44 to remain undefeated this season. Brandon Ward took second place in the 55 m hurdles with a time of 7.60. Schafer Sherrer finished in third place in the 400 m with a time of 49.9. Iran Bickham came in third place in the triple jump posting a mark of 14.19 m). The 4 x 400 team (Sherrer, Derrick Ray, Speer and Alan Senegal) also came in third place with a time of 3:18.12. Head coach Edmond Donald said he is pleased with the progression of the 2006-07 team. "We are on pace with where we were last year," he said. "I'm very happy with the performance of the young guys. They are adding depth to the team." JSU will return to action on Jan. 12 when the Tigers travel to Fayetteville, Ark. to face SEC competition in the Arkansas Invitational. The meet will be hosted by the Arkansas Razorbacks.