MGCCC’s Reese quickly makes Olympic finals

Former Mississippi Gulf Coast star Brittney Reese wasted no time Tuesday night in the women's long jump qualifying at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

"The goal was just to come out and hit the qualifying mark. I did it on my first jump, and I kind of backed off which I know is something that I can't do tomorrow," Reese said. "I'm just looking forward to tomorrow, my body is doing great, everything is going as planned."

Reese, who was inducted into the MGCCC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011, will try to defend her gold medal Wednesday. The finals are scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m. CT.

Reese, who was inducted into the MGCCC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2011, will try to defend her gold medal Wednesday. The finals are scheduled to start at 7:15 p.m. CT.

The event can be watched live online at http://stream.nbcolympics.com/track-and-field-women-long-jump-final

Reese played basketball at Gulf Coast, graduating in 2006. She went on to be an NCAA champion at Ole Miss and has won six world championships. A win in Rio would make her the first woman to ever repeat in the event and only second to win two gold medals in a career.

She was one of only three competitors to jump the qualifying distance Tuesday. She had the third-longest jump behind Serbia's Ivan Španovic (6.87 meters) and Germany's Malaika Mihambo (6.82 meters).

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