Bougard and Todd compete at the USA Olympic Track & Field Trials
Two of Byhalia’s very own competed last week in the USA Track & Field Olympic Trials, at the University of Oregon.
Erica Bougard placed 6th overall with 6,912 points in the Heptathlon. She is the most-decorated athlete in Mississippi State University history with 16 All-American honors and holds five school records. She placed fourth in the heptathlon at the 2019 Outdoor World Championships and finished fifth in the pentathlon at the 2018 Indoor World Championships. She is a two-time USATF heptathlon champion and two-time pentathlon champion; a 2017 USATF long jump champion; 2013 NCAA pentathlon champion; twotime SEC champion; a three-time SEC Field Athlete of the Year; 2015 Cliff Harper Trophy Winner; and the first MSU woman ever named to The Bowerman watch list in 2015. Bougard is a graduate of Byhalia High School.
Corvell Todd placed fifth in the high jump at the USA Olympic Track & Field Trials event finals Sunday night.
Last week Todd only needed one clearance to make it to the event finals. On his first attempt, he cleared the opening bar set at 2.14 meters, placing him in the top 12. Todd’s personal best is .01 meters higher than the 2.21 first-finals.
On Sunday, in the event finals, Todd was one of four jumpers to fail in the third progression at 2.24 meters (7 feet 4 ¼ inches), but he had the edge over the other three after clearing the 2.21-meter bar on his first try. He placed fifth in the high jump.
Alabama alumnus Shelby McEwen won the event as the only jumper to clear the 2.30meter bar. He’s headed to the Paris Olympics, but the other spot on the national team is in question.