In its first year, the Southwest Mississippi Community College track team was good enough to have a national champion — make that double national champion.
Sheniqua Ferguson won the 100 and 200 meters at the NJCAA National Outdoor Track and Field Championships as Southwest garnered two second-place finishes and two third-place finishes from the men’s team.
“Obviously, anyone would be thrilled to have a national championship,” Southwest men’s track coach James Williams said. “We’re proud to have a double national champion”
The two top finishes helped the women’s team to a sixth place finish, which would be tough to replicate with just four runners competing.
“We figured we were going to do well,” women’s track coach Charlie Floyd said. “We’d been stacking up good against the four-year colleges, and we knew we had quality athletes.
“(Sixth place was) quite a surprise with four girls.”
The four girls, Ferguson, Krystal Bodie, Taneisha Baker and Chiquita Blue combined for a second-place finish in the 4 x 100 meter relay, while Bodie was second in the 100 hurdles.
The numbers game wasn’t the only thing that was different from the other meets Southwest had run in.
The track team had been out of class for the summer for two weeks before nationals.
Without classes, the team had to switch its routine, and it became a little more like nationals — a workout in the morning with another in the afternoon.
The national meet has two sessions, a morning and an afternoon.
“We had to find ways to keep involved instead of sitting back and overanalyzing and contemplating the race you’re going to run,” Williams said.
“By the time you’re ready at the start, your mind feels like you’ve already run it.”
The men’s team had Jamal Wilson take third in the high jump, but that came as a little bit as a disappointment after the competition.
“Wilson had been consistent all year, and if he had a good day, he would have won it,” Williams said. “The height they jumped to win was the height he jumped all year long.”
Every day can’t be the best when it comes to individual competitions, so Wilson will have another chance next year.
The results didn’t just show how good the Southwest can be, it put the track team out there in track circles with the performance at nationals, both indoor and outdoor.
“We went looking for bigger and better things,” Floyd said. “By doing well, we’re creating a lot of interest in Southwest.”
Williams added, “It shows that athletes in this area can go to Southwest and stay close to home and be on one of the best teams in the country.”
With the track season behind them, the coaches will start to spend time with the youth track programs and filling next year’s team along with their other track obligations.
