Mississippi College Track and Field Athletes Qualify for NCAA Championships
Daviciea McCartney (Photo Courtesy of Mississippi College Athletics)
By Datti Jinkiri
After an impressive outdoor track and field season, Mississippi College will have five athletes representing the school in the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. Junior Tytavia Hardy will represent the women’s team in the triple jump. The men’s team will be represented by freshman Daviciea McCartney in the men’s 400 meter hurdles and the 4×400 meter relay team of Fabio Palmieri, Dalton Dempsey, Rakeem Wilson, and McCartney.
Tytavia Hardy
Hardy jumped a distance of 12.46 meters at the Lee University Last Chance Meet this past weekend. This was the twelfth-best outdoor triple jump mark in Division II this season, and it secured a spot for her in the NCAA Championship.
This will be Hardy’s second appearance in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. She tallied a fifteenth-place finish in the triple jump and a thirteenth-place finish in the long jump in 2019.
The Pensacola native won the triple jump at both the GSC Indoor and Outdoor Championships, giving her a clean sweep of the event this year. She competed in the triple jump at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, where she tallied an impressive third-place finish. She will be looking to improve on that mark next week.
Daviciea McCartney
McCartney will be making his first appearance in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He has the eleventh-fastest outdoor 400 meter hurdle time in Division II this year. His time of 52.25 seconds came at the Al Schmidt Bulldog Relays in March.
The Garland, Texas native won the event at the GSC Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He was named Most Outstanding Freshman and Most Outstanding Overall Performer at the meet.
4×400 Meter Relay Team
The 4×400 meter relay team of Fabio Palmieri, Dalton Dempsey, Rakeem Wilson, and McCartney will be making a debut appearance in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The team won the event at the GSC Outdoor Track and Field Championships three weeks ago.
The quartet was the ninth-fastest team in the nation this year. Their time of 3:11.03 at last month’s I-20 Twilight Meet was fast enough to qualify them for the NCAA Championship.
NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships
The 2021 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be held from May 27-May 29 in Allendale, Michigan. The livestream and results can be found on NCAA.com.
