OXFORD, Miss. – The funeral for University of Mississippi
track star Rodney Lydale Lockhart is set for 2:30 p.m.
Saturday at the J.Z. George High School gymnasium in
Carrollton.
Visitation is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday at Sanders &
Sanders Funeral Home at 600 Church Street in Winona.
Lockhart, 20, a junior psychology major from Vaiden, was
found dead Saturday (Sept. 29) morning at his Taylor Pointe
apartment in Oxford. He had been shot, and his death is
being investigated as a homicide by the Oxford Police
Department and the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation.
Ole Miss track athletes and their coaches, who are still
having difficulty coping with Lockhart’s death, plan to
attend the funeral, said UM Head Track Coach Joe Walker.
UM’s track athletes have been stationed at the Ole Miss
Student Union from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily this week,
raising money to help Lockhart’s family with funeral
expenses. They will continue to do so Thursday and Friday.
Lockhart was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S.
4×400-relay team in the 2006 World Junior Championships in
Beijing.
He finished ninth in the 400 meters and was a member of the
4×400-meter relay team that finished eighth at the 2006 SEC
Outdoor Championships. At the 2006 SEC Indoor
Championships, he finished eighth in the 400 meters and was
a member of the 4×400-meter relay team that finished
fifth.
Lockhart was the top collegiate finisher in the 400 meters,
posting a time of 47.70, at the McCravy Memorial.
He was the son of Ronnie Lockhart and Clarissa Lockhart of
Vaiden.
Sanders & Sanders Funeral Home (662-283-5049) is in charge
of arrangements.