The Missouri State men's track and field team finished third with 94 points at Saturday's Mississippi State Bulldog Invitational, at Starkville, Miss., and the MSU women placed fourth with 91 team points. Fabian Florant made a strong showing for the Missouri State men by dominating the long jump and triple jump competitions. Kareem Samuel also put in a great performance for the Bears by winning the 400-meter hurdles. Tracy Partain led the Bears' women's team with three top-five finishes and Tanya Cyrus had the lone individual win for the women in the 400-meter dash.
Senior Florant surpassed the NCAA regional provisional triple jump mark of 49'5 3/4" with his first-place leap of 51' 3 1/2". This distance is also a personal best for Florant. In the men's long jump competition, Florant dominated with a jump of 23'10 3/4". 
Samuel, a MSU junior, won the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.47. This time surpasses the NCAA regional provisional mark of 52.51 and is also a personal-best time for Samuel.
The Bears had a two-three-four finish in the 3,000-meter run, with Michael Breshears finishing second (8:30.77), Josphat Bitok in third (8:31.90) and Kevin Born in fourth (8:32.07). In the 800-meter run, Jonathan Rono took home second place with a time of 1:51.20 and Travis Mack finished in a close third in 1:52.14. Justin Alberts finished seventh in the 400-meter dash for MSU in a time of 48.51 and MSU's Kevin Cave finished the race ninth (49.41).
On the women's side of the meet, Partain earned three top-five finishes. She placed second in the high jump, clearing a height of 5'7" and second in the long jump with a distance of 18'9". In the 100-meter hurdles, Partain ran a time of 13.95, placing her third. Partain also added a tenth-place finish in the 200-meter dash (24.99).
Cyrus, the lone individual winner for the MSU women, won the 400-meter dash in 54.74.
Clarissa Codrington placed third in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:38.90. She also added a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter run (2:18.51).
Danielle Norville and Genna Williams took a fifth and sixth place finish for the Bears in the 100-meter dash. Norville was fifth in a time of 11.95 and Williams was sixth in 12.02.
Other top-five finishers for the MSU women included Casey Dewitt in the 3,000-meter run (10:19.68), Keely Porter in the 400-meter dash (57.92), and Michelle Simpson in the 400-meter hurdles (1:03.68). Jayne Kristmann added a second-place finish in the pole vault, clearing a height of 10'6" and a fourth-place finish in the javelin throw (121'1").
The Bears' women's relay teams also had a great showing at the Invitational as the 4x100-meter relay team finished second, with a time of 46.55 and the 4x400-meter relay won the race in 3:45.66.
The Missouri State track and field teams will be back in competition Thursday, April 13, in Columbia, Mo., for the University of Missouri Tom Botts Invitational. The Invitational is a three day meet that will conclude on Sunday, April 15. 
