The Missouri State track and field team began their indoor
season today at the Missouri Invitational in Columbia, Mo. The Bears won four events and placed second
in three events. In total, Missouri
State had 17 top-10 finishes.
Junior Leander Ernest continued her dominance in the sprints
with a victory in the 600-yard run. Her
time of 1:21.73 set the meet record. The
previous meet record was 1:22.53, set in 1988 by Natasha Kaiser-Brown. Kaiser-Brown, now the women’s track and field
coach at Drake University, won the silver medal in the 4x400-meter relay at the
1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the gold at the 1993 World Championships.
Ernest also won the 1,600-meter relay as the anchor of the
team. Freshman Kindra Perkins, junior
Yaneika Malcolm and sophomore Rashida Allen were also on the winning relay
team.
Senior Alexandria Oembler won the 60-meter hurdles with a
time of 8.86 seconds. She edged out
Kaela Rorvig of Mizzou by a mere hundredth of a second and just six hundredths of
a second off her personal best. Allen
placed sixth in the hurdles.
The Bears dominated the 3,000-meter run with Asher Kyger and
Terry Phillips taking the top two spots, respectively. Kyger ran a sub-10 minute time of 9:54.70, a
personal best time and fourth fastest in school history. Phillips, in her first indoor competition, placed
second in the event. Senior Jamie Vest
finished seventh.
Shawnté Middlebrook had a strong showing in jumps. She placed second in the triple jump with a
distance of 11.33 meters (37-02.25 feet), a personal best. Her long jump of 5.46 meters (17-11.00 feet)
placed her fifth in the event.
Twins Mareneika and Zaleika Goffe each reached a height of
1.53 meters (5-00.25 feet) in the high jump.
Mareneika made it over the bar on her first attempt giving her sixth
place; Zaleika tied for seventh.
In the field, sophomore Sofie Blount set personal bests in
the weight throw and the shot put. Her
weight throw distance was 12.93 meters (42-05.25 feet), nearly eight feet
farther than her previous best. She
threw the shot put 12.27 meters (40-03.25 feet).
The Missouri State track and field team will travel to
Joplin, Mo., next Friday and Saturday (Jan. 16-17) to compete in the Fazoli’s/Baymont
Inn Invitational hosted by Missouri Southern University. Friday’s meet begins at 2:30 p.m. at the
Leggett and Platt Athletic Center.
Courtesy: MSU Photo Services