Special to the Item

EUGENE, Ore. – Ole Miss men’s and women’s track & field concluded its stay at the newly renovated Hayward Field, with Jalani Davis representing the Rebels in the women’s discus at the conclusion to the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships on Saturday.

Davis – the only thrower, male or female, to qualify in the hammer, shot put and discus – concluded her impressive triple feat with another Second-Team All-American award in the discus on Saturday. The outdoor freshman topped out at 54.64m/179-03 on her first attempt, which was good for 14th place overall. On the weekend, Davis earned Second-Team status in the discus and the hammer (16th place), while also taking an Honorable Mention nod in the shot put (19th). Davis was just one of two NCAA triplers in action this week alongside Texas A&M’s Tyra Gittens, who scored 24 NCAA points across the heptathlon (champion), long jump (runner-up) and high jump (third place).

Overall, Ole Miss finished tied for 30th in the men’s standings following 10 points from Waleed Suliman (third place) and Mario Garcia Romo (fifth place) in the 1500-meter final on Friday, and the Rebels ended up tied for 33rd place in the women’s competition via eight points from NCAA hammer runner-up, Shey Taiwo. Ole Miss will return home with three First-Team All-Americans and nine Second-Team All-Americans.

This week wraps up what has been a challenging, yet superb season for the Rebels under sixth year head coach Connie Price-Smith. In total, Ole Miss scored 50 NCAA points across the indoor (32) and outdoor (18) seasons, notched national top-35 in all four opportunities across both seasons, sent a program record to both the indoor (10 entries) and outdoor (16 entries) national meets, sent a massive program record 43 entries to the NCAA East Regional outdoors and won six SEC individual titles – not to mention a superb cross country season that finished with two 12th-place national team finishes and the first 1-2-3 SEC sweep in Ole Miss history.

“I am extremely proud of our team for what they did to get here and what they accomplished while they were here,” Price-Smith said. “I think being here was a great experience, and I am proud of the way they competed and represented Ole Miss. It’s opportunities like these that create memories that will last a lifetime for our student-athletes, whether that was Shey’s amazing runner-up finish in the hammer, Waleed and Mario running fantastic races in the 1500, Clio’s (Ozanne-Jaques) school record in the 10K, Jalani tripling or Allen (Gordon) doubling, or anything else throughout this meet. I’m just so proud of this team.”

While the recognized collegiate season is now over, the excitement is just getting started for several Rebels now setting their sights on an even higher stage: the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. First will come the grueling national qualifying meets in countries across the globe, none more difficult to manage than the U.S. Olympic Trials – slated to begin back at Hayward Field in just six days on June 18. Right now, Waleed Suliman (1500-meter, 3:36.53) and Shey Taiwo (hammer, 71.27m/233-10) are the lone current Rebels to hold Trials qualifying standards, but several others could join them on field size – along with a sizable group of former Rebel greats like Brittney Reese and Sam Kendricks, among others.

The U.S. Olympic Trials run June 18-27 at Hayward Field, with action broadcast live via the NBC family of networks. Final qualifying lists will be released in the coming days.

FINAL TEAM SCORES

Men: T-30th (10 points)

Women: T-33rd (8 points)

Women’s First-Team All-Americans

Shey Taiwo – Women’s Hammer, 2nd Place

Men’s First-Team All-Americans

Waleed Suliman – Men’s 1500-Meter, 3rd Place

Mario Garcia Romo – Men’s 1500-Meter, 5th Place

Women’s Second-Team All-Americans

Jayda Eckford – Women’s 4×100-Meter Relay, 14th Place

Toni Glatz – Women’s 4×100-Meter Relay, 14th Place

Brandee Presley – Women’s 4×100-Meter Relay, 14th Place

Olivia Womack – Women’s 4×100-Meter Relay, 14th Place

Jalani Davis – Women’s Hammer, 16th Place

Men’s Second-Team All-Americans

Allen Gordon – Men’s Long Jump, 11th Place

Baylor Franklin – Men’s 800-Meter, 13th Place

Allen Gordon – Men’s High Jump, 14th Place

John Rivera Jr. – Men’s 800-Meter, 14th Place

Women’s Honorable Mention All-Americans

Clio Ozanne-Jaques – 10K, 17th Place

Jalani Davis – Women’s Shot Put, 19th Place

Kieshonna Brooks – Women’s Long Jump, 21st Place

Men’s Honorable Mention All-Americans

Kenney Broadnax – Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles, 21st Place

REBELS IN DAY FOUR COMPETITION

Women’s Discus Final

14. Jalani Davis – 54.64m/179-03

REBELS IN DAY THREE COMPETITION

Men’s 1500-Meter Final

3. Waleed Suliman – 3:37.30

5. Mario Garcia Romo – 3:38.66

Men’s High Jump Final

14. Allen Gordon – 2.15m/7-00.50

REBELS IN DAY TWO COMPETITION

Women’s 10K Final

17. Clio Ozanne-Jaques – 33:26.86 – School Record

Women’s 4×100-Meter Relay Semifinals

14. Womack, Presley, Eckford, Glatz – 44.12

Women’s Pole Vault

NH Lyndsey Reed

Women’s Long Jump

21. Kieshonna Brooks – 6.01m/19-08.75 (+1.1)

Women’s Shot Put

19. Jalani Davis – 16.39m/53-09.25

Women’s Hammer

2. Shey Taiwo – 71.27m/233-10 – NCAA Runner-Up, 16-foot PR, No. 9 NCAA history, No. 6 NCAA meet history, No. 2 all-time at Ole Miss, No. 6 U.S. 2021, No. 25 World 2021

16. Jalani Davis – 65.52m/214-11 – 2-foot PR, No. 4 all-time at Ole Miss

REBELS IN DAY ONE COMPETITION

Men’s 800-Meter Semifinals

13. Baylor Franklin – 1:48.28

14. John Rivera Jr. – 1:48.45

Men’s 1500-Meter Semifinals

2. Mario Garcia Romo – 3:37.59 – AQ

8. Waleed Suliman – 3:38.92 – AQ

Men’s 110-Meter Hurdles Semifinals

21. Kenney Broadnax – 14.24 (+0.2)

Men’s Pole Vault

NH Cole Colozzo

Men’s Long Jump

11. Allen Gordon – 7.64m/25-00.75 (+1.9)

For more information on Ole Miss Track & Field and Cross Country, follow the Rebels on Twitter (@OleMissTrack), Facebook.

and Instagram.