2010 MSU Coaching Staff

2010 MSU COACHING STAFF 10 HEAD COACH The highlight of the 2008 season for Schmidt was being named the coach for the U.S. Men’s Under-23 team at the NACAC Championships. In 2007, Schmidt guided five Bulldogs to All-American status. Schmidt also witnessed three school records broken. At the SEC Championships, AL SCHMIDT thes men’ team had a total of four athletes score 30 points to finish 11th HEAD COACH overall. Among those scorers included Golden Coachman and Travis 22nd Season McKay scoring in the 800-meter run and 3000-meter steeplechase, with third and fourth place finishes, respectively. St. Louis University, 1975 Out of the 21 events the Bulldogs competed in, 62 of the athletes marked a personal best in their respective event. There were also six regional qualifiers for the men’s team and two relay regional marks met. Bruce Davis, Ezra Jones, Nathan Daniels and Arthur Davis finished fourth at the NCAA Championships, with a time of three minutes, 3.49 seconds. On 22 separate times during the 2007 season, 15 Lady Bulldogs met their personal best marks, along with seven regional qualifiers. Marrissa Harris finished fourth in the heptathlon at the SEC Championships with a Al and Jessie Schmidt personal-best 5,242 points, along with Jennifer McPherson who finished fourth in the 1500-meter run with a time of 4:20.87, and Michelle Corrigan egarded and respected nationwide as an authority on endurance who took sixth in the 10000-meter run with a time of 37:15.760. A total of running and training, Al Schmidt enters his 22nd season at 16 Lady Bulldogs scored a total of 19 points for MSU as they finished 11th Rthe helm of the Mississippi State’s men’s and women’s track at the meet. teams. Since his hiring on Oct. 22, 1988, Schmidt has parlayed his 37 In 2005, Schmidt witnessed six Bulldogs garner All-America accolades. years of collegiate coaching experience into many individual and team At the 2005 NCAA Outdoor Championships, Elzie Coleman, Arthur Davis, accomplishments for MSU, both on and off of the track. In his previous LaChristopher Lewis and Jamel Ashley ran a school-record 3:01.63 to 21 seasons, Schmidt has produced 39 all-Americans and 35 SEC finish fifth in the 4x400-meter relay. Ashley placed second in the 400, champions. while Lewis took 11th in the long jump to earn his first All-America honor In 2009, Schmidt tutored six athletes to All-American status. Marrissa in the event. At the Mideast Regional, Steve Mullings won the 100-meter Harris was the lone Lady Bulldog to achieve the honor finishing in 8th- dash title, repeating his performance from the SEC Championships. Lewis place in the 100-meter hurdles and 10th in the heptathlon. The men’s also won the long jump title at the conference meet, while Ashley finished 4x100-meter relay team, John Bailey, D’Angelo Cherry, Justin Christian second in the 400-meter dash. Travis McKay finished seventh in the and Dwight Mullings, ran a school record 39.06 seconds to claim fourth steeplechase, setting the third-best time in school history. As a team, the place at the NCAA Championships. This record- setting race earned the Bulldogs finished 19th in the last Trackwire 25 of the season. talented foursome All-American accolades in the relay event. The men’s On the women’s side, Meggan Hodge broke the MSU school record team added three more All-Americans to the Bulldog team, with Cherry in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a 10:46.04 eighth-place finish at the achieving recognition in the 100-meter dash, Mullings in the 400-meter SEC Championships. Jasmine Walls cleared a personal best to tie for dash, and Emanuel Mayers for his performance in the 400-meter hurdles. second in the high jump. Crystal Averitt ended her career atop the all-time MSU sent 16 athletes to the 2009 Mideast Regional Championships. list in the hammer throw, while Lacey Johnson extended her school record Six Lady Bulldogs traveled to Louisville, Ky., to compete for NCAA in the pole vault. Championship tickets. Wendy Copeland made her third trip to the post Three-time All-American Tiffany McWilliams closed out her MSU career season, qualifying in the long and triple jump and 4x100-meter relay. Ten in 2004 by becoming the most decorated female athlete in Lady Bulldog Bulldogs made the trip to the post season, with two relays (4x100 and track and field history. McWilliams repeated her 2003 feat of winning the 4x400) and the sprint events being the team’s focus. Bulldogs Mayers outdoor 1500-meter title and also won the NCAA Indoor title in the mile. (400-meter hurdles), Mullings (400-meter dash), and the 4x100-meter Behind McWilliams and a strong distance corps, MSU achieved a No. 12 relay all claimed top honors at the Regional Championships. national ranking. For Schmidt, 2009 was a season full of top honors and record On the men’s side, decathlete and All-American Trey Hardee set a breaking performances. Schmidt saw both his men’s and women’s school record in the event after tallying 8,041 points in a second-place teams strive to new heights ensuring him that the best was yet to come. finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Five Bulldogs were named In 2008, Schmidt coached two athletes to become SEC Champions. all-Americans in 2003. Ashley Davis, Lewis and Keston Nelson all earned Marrissa Harris won the heptathlon with a school record of 5,600 points. the recognition following a third-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay at Jamil Hubbard won the 400-meter SEC title. During the SEC Outdoor nationals. Ashley picked up the honor in the 400-meter dash in addition to Meet, 14 athletes qualified for the NCAA Regional Meet and 10 athletes the 4x4. scored in their events. The men placed eighth and the women placed In 2003, McWilliams became the first woman in MSU track and field 11th. history to win a national championship. Running 4:06.75, McWilliams At the NCAA Regional meet, two Bulldogs, Jamil Hubbard and broke an NCAA Championships record en route to winning the 1500-meter Golden Coachman, won titles in the 400-meter run and in the 800-meter run. She was also crowned the SEC indoor champion in the mile run in run. O’Neal Wilder took second in the 400-meter behind Hubbard, while addition to the outdoor 800- and 1500-meter runs. Chris Woods took fourth in the 800-meter. The 4x400-meter relay team, At the Outdoor Championships, State tallied the second-highest point consisting of Wilder, Hubbard, Woods, and Emmanuel Mayers, took first. total with 20 points. MSU finished in tied for 15th behind Pierre Browne’s Thes men’ team placed sixth, which was the best finish for the Bulldogs at second-place showing in the 100-meter dash (10.34). Hardee took fifth in the meet. The 4x100-meter relay and Kendall May received at-large bids the decathlon for his first all-America honor, while Kelvin Harris ran 13.86 to the NCAA National Meet. Marrissa Harris qualified in the heptathlon. in the 110-meter hurdles to earn his first All-America nod. Out of these athletes, O’Neal Wilder continued his season by competing The men topped all previous indoor squads at the NCAA Indoor in the Junior National Championships, where he won the 400-meter Championships. The Bulldogs scored 15 points to score in the top 10 for run title. At the World Junior Championships, Wilder won the bronze the first time in school history. Browne won the 60-meter dash title (6.60), in the 400-meter event. Marrissa Harris continued hers at the NACAC while Marquis Davis finished second in the 200 (20.70). Under-23 Championships, where she won the bronze in the pentathlon. 11 11 HEAD COACH During 2002, Schmidt and the MSU program hosted the SEC Outdoor four other Southeastern Conference squads for the prestigious honor. In Championships. At the meet, State’s men scored 35 points as a team, the 2007, both cross country teams were selected the Track and Field and second-highest total of an MSU squad since his arrival. He also witnessed Cross Country Coaches Association, as an All-Academic Team. The the men’s program tally its highest points total since 1991 at the SEC Indoor Championship. MState women were one of 158 schools, while the men were one of 98 Elisha Williams became the school’s first indoor all-American in 2001 nationwide that receive the honor. Only six SEC teams had both their after taking second in long jump. Later in the season, Williams became male and female teams represented. the second woman to become a double All-American in the same year. Williams took fifth in the outdoor long jump. Schmidt also helped Falilatu PRIOR TO MSU Ogunkoya finished her MSU career in 2001 as a five-time All-American, Before coming to MSU, Schmidt was instrumental in the success and Camille Harper closed out her career as an All-American in the of Florida State University’s track and field program in the mid 1980s. 100-meter dash. First serving as an assistant women’s track coach and head cross country The 1990s saw Aki Bradley benefit from the tutelage of Schmidt. Bradley became a double All-American at the 1994 NCAA Outdoor coach, he later became an assistant men’s track coach and head cross Championships, placing in both the 100- and 200-meter sprints.

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