Golden Eagle T&F Finish In Top-25 at NCAA Outdoor Championships

Wednesday, June 5

Austin, Texas

TBA

Southern Miss

NCAA Outdoor Championships

Golden Eagle T&F Finish In Top-25 at NCAA Outdoor Championships

6/7/2019 10:24:00 PM | Track & Field/Cross Country

Results Photo Gallery

Three Eagles come home as First-Team All-Americans, one Second Team All-American.

AUSTIN, Texas – The Golden Eagles come away from the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with four All-Americans and the highest team finish in school history, tied for 24^thwith 13 points.

Caleb Parker, Eric Richards, and John Warren all scored crucial points for the Golden Eagles, and all finishing in the top-5 of their respective events, being named First-Team All-Americans.

This was also the last meet for Golden Eagle seniors John Warren and McKinely West.

Caleb Parker came in fifth place in the 110m hurdles with a time of 13.55. Earlier in the week, Parker broke his personal best and the school record for the high hurdles with a time of 13.50 in the prelims.

Eric Richards had a huge finish, coming in fifth place in the high jump with a new personal-best of 7'4.25". He passed the first two heights on the first attempt, and passed the third height on his second attempt. Richards fought to the finish, clearing the fourth and fifth heights on his third and final attempt.

John Warren finished in fourth place with a personal-best and new school record jump of 55'00.75" in the triple jump. His mark came on his last jump in the event. He started his series with a mark of 54'8.75", moving him into first place. His second jump kept him ahead of the pack with a mark of 54'9.25". His next two jumps were at 53'2.25" and 53'0.75" before his record-setting leap.

McKinely West competed in the 100m dash prelims on Wednesday, but unfortunately did not qualify for the finals. He was just .03 seconds off of his personal-best time, and finished in 13^thplace at 10.09. He comes away from Austin as a Second Team All-American. West finishes at Southern Miss as a six-time NCAA All-American, an eight-time Conference USA Champion, having broken three Conference USA meet records and holding four school records.

Head Coach Jon Stuart
"Just a historic day here in Austin, Texas with one Second Team All-American and three First Team All-Americans. We had a tough competition and the kids stepped up to the challenge; they were great over the past three days. First off, McKinely West. He didn't quite make the final this year but McKinely is just a stalwart in our program. As the team goes, they just followed McKinely West all year. He was just tremendous, he ran his best time all year. Unfortunately he is just in the premier event in the 100m in the NCAA. They are some of the best runners in the world that he is competing against, and he's one of them. He finished thirteenth overall. Then we had Caleb Parker who has just been more than dedicated all year long, and he finished fifth in the 110m hurdles. He had run personal bests for the past five races and saved another good race for the finals and getting fifth place. Eric "EJ" Richards, just a Mississippi kid that came to Southern Miss – he was incredible today. He wasn't projected to finish in the top eight, become an All-American or score any points, but man, when the pressure was on him he just came through for us, finishing fifth overall and having a new personal best. I can't be more happy for EJ, and he's got a bright future for us next year too. Finally, there's John Warren who has been great all season and had a storybook career for us. Having his very best jump of the season on his last attempt at the National Championships – it just doesn't get any better than that. He moved himself from sixth place into fourth and that put us over the top and helped us move into that 24^th position overall. I couldn't be more proud of this group. They were such a hard-working group, mentors to the rest of the team. As we always say, 'compete as if you have no regrets', and they did that. Every one of these guys were at their best at the right time at the National Championships. That's the way we planned it, that's the way the coaching staff had trained these kids and prepared them for this meet. They did a fabulous job."

Assistant Coach John Ellis
"Today was incredible. There's no other word to describe it. My boys really took care of business and showed the nation who Southern Miss is. Caleb Parker has proven himself as a top hurdler in the country. He has been perfect the last month of the season when we really needed him most. Eric Richards is an underdog for so many reason, mostly because he's been the shortest high jumper at 2 straight national championship meets, but has left both with All-American honors. I'm so proud of him for never backing down and rising to the occasion. John Warren took his final jump of his collegiate career and he saved his best for last. I can't speak higher of John. He's been one of the most enjoyable athletes I've ever coached. John took the lead early in the competition and kept his foot on the gas the whole time. I'm so proud of him for having his highest national championship finish ever and I look forward to him have a successful career as a professional jumper. McKinely West has been someone my athletes have looked up to. He is a huge part of why our team is where it is now. His leadership and talent are such an inspiration. This group of 4 young men are 4 of the greatest athletes in Southern Miss history and I'm just so proud of them for putting together a 24th place finish at the national championships."