The 2008 season will be remembered for numerous individual highlights by members of the Missouri State track and field team. The Bears produced two new Missouri State all-time bests, a Missouri Valley Conference all-time best and even a national record as squad members finished an all out assault on the record books.
Missouri State was not able to bring home a team title from the Missouri Valley Conference championships, but the Bears arms were full with hardware as five individual conference titles and 24 All-MVC honors were handed out to the Bears.
Leander Ernest and Jamie Vest also added their names to a list of Missouri State track and field stars who have qualified the NCAA Outdoor Championships. It was the first time two Bears qualified for nationals since 2005 when Casey Owens (10,000-meter) and Tracy Partain (heptathlon) advanced to the NCAA Championships.
Six more made their way to the NCAA Mideast Region in Renna Berry, Cortene Boulard, Asher Kyger, Jacqui Lindsey, Yanieka Malcolm and Terry Phillips.
INDOOR SEASON
The Bears began the indoor season at the home meet of in-state foe Missouri for the Missouri Invitational. Ernest recorded the top finish for Missouri State, capturing first in the 600-yard run (1:23.87). In the one mile run, freshman Emily Fletcher (5:06.43), earned a third-place finish to drop an impressive 19-seconds from her personal best. Boulard recorded a third-place finish in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.77, and fourth in the 200-meter dash at 26.25. Boulard and Ernest, along with freshman Jacqui Lindsey and sophomore Yaneika Malcolm, added a second place finish in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:50.91.
In the second week of the season, the Bears traveled to the Kansas State Wildcat Invitational. While there, Missouri State claimed six titles. Newcomer Rashida Allen was victorious in the first 200-meter dash of her career. Leander Ernest continued her dominance, winning the 400-meter dash. Yaneika Malcolm (600-yard run), Asher Kyger (3,000-meter run), Carrie Vestal (mile run), and the 4x400-meter relay team (Ernest, Malcolm, Lindsey, Boulard) also claimed event victories against their Big 12 opponent.
Despite the distance runners taking the weekend off, the Bears still produced five top-10 finishes at the Arkansas Razorback Invitational to end January competition. Leander Ernest had the team’s best showing finishing fourth in the 800-meter run at 2:09.98. Her run narrowly missed the NCAA 800-meter national qualifying time of 2:09.00. In the 4x400-meter relay, Ernest tag teamed with sophomores Malcolm and Boulard, as well as, the freshman Lindsey to run an impressive early season 3:45.30, just 0.14-seconds behind Texas A&M. Individually, Malcolm moved into the Valley’s number two position in the 400-meter dash with her time of 55.97-seconds.
The Bears began February at the Indiana Relays. The Goffe twins, Mareneika and Zaleika, tied for fourth-place in the high jump at the event. Rashida Allen placed third in the 200-meter dash, the best placing for Missouri State.
Missouri State took part in the Indiana Relays on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Ind., Feb. 1 and 2. Ernest led the Bears claiming seventh overall in the Invitational 400-meter race with a time of 55.55. Malcolm was not far behind in the same event at 56.99. Distance runner Carrie Vestal placed seventh in the Invitational 3,000-meter run clocking a time of 10:10.90. Sophomore twin sisters Zaleika Goffe and Mareneika Goffe tied for fourth in the high jump competition as both recorded a 5-4.25 clearance.
The Iowa State Classic produced a rare moment for every level of track and field. Leander Ernest took down her home country of St. Lucia’s indoor national record for 800-meters, coincidentally held by another former Missouri State runner Augustina Charles. Aside from being a new St. Lucian and MSU record, her performance of 2:07.90 was a NCAA national championship qualifying performance.
Also in the 4x400-meter relay at Iowa State, Ernest (53.6 second split) teamed up with Jacqui Lindsey (56.91), Cortene Boulard (56.97) and Yaneika Malcom (55.29) for a Missouri Valley Conference leading time of 3:42.77. Malcolm pulled away from regional foes Kansas State and Iowa in the final turn to win their heat and capture fourth-place overall in a field that included 37 teams from around the nation. In the 3,000-meter run, junior Carrie Vestal crossed the line with the third-fastest time in school history and a personal-best time of 9:51.41.
At the MVC Indoor Championships, the Bears placed sixth, but had a number of great individual performances. Leander Ernest claimed the conference title in the 800-meter run and along with Emily Fletcher, Asher Kyger and Yanieka Malcolm was on the winning distance medley relay. That relay set a new MVC championship record with a time of 11:43.16. Kyger was another double winner as she took down a loaded field in the mile run. Other All-Conference honors came from the 4x400-meter relay team (Malcolm, Lindsey, Boulard, Ernest), which placed third and Carrie Vestal, who was third in the 5,000-meter run.
OUTDOOR SEASON
Missouri State got their outdoor season started just where indoor did, in Columbia, Mo. The Bears stormed out of the gate with 17 top-ten finishes. Asher Kyger took the win in the 1,500-meter run, Leander Ernest won the 400-meter dash and freshman Terry Phillips placed second in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, in what was just her first track event as a Bear. Shawnt Middlebrook started her outdoor season with fourth-place finishes in both the triple jump and the long jump.
In week two of the outdoor season, the Bears split the squad between the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., and the Big Bear Invitational back home in Springfield. Looking to go up against the best distance running competition available, Jamie Vest and Carrie Vestal had great showings at Stanford. In the 3,000-meter steeplechase Vest recorded a NCAA regional qualifying performance (10:48.23) while Vestal became the second fastest 10,000-meter performer in MSU history (35:09.15). Vestal’s time held up as the fastest 10,000-meter performance of the year in the MVC; the sixth year an MSU runner has led the conference in that event.
Back home at the Big Bear Invitational, Missouri State was not easy on it’s guest, taking four events and placing second in nine more. Asher Kyger continued her strong distance running with a victory in the 3,000-meter run. Shawnt Middlebrook was victorious in the triple jump, beating teammate Rashida Allen by just over a foot. Deandrea Rolle won her first discus throw event, winning by nearly nine feet. While Emily Fletcher recorded her first individual college win, taking the 1,500-meter run.
With a great field assembled, Leander Ernest led the Bears into Lawrence, Kan., winning the 800-meter run at the Kansas Relays. Her performance of 2:06.45 was a NCAA regional qualifier and made her the second fastest performer in MSU history. Ernest was also a member of the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay teams which placed second and third, respectively. Kyger put her name into the MSU record books with a strong showing in the 1,500-meter run. Her performance of 4:26.20 moved ahead of Casey Owens record of 4:27.11 from 2005 and qualified her for the NCAA regionals.
The last weekend in April, Missouri State traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, for the prestigious Drake Relays. At Drake, Leander Ernest placed seventh in a very elite 800-meter run. The Bears’ 4x1600-meter relay team also finished in the top 10 with an eighth-place finish. Jamie Vest bettered the NCAA qualifying standard for the second time of the season as she took 11th in a nationally represented field in 10:45.08.
Missouri State began the month of May in Fayetteville, Ark., for the Arkansas Twilight. The Bears were able to put together 12 top-10 finishes, led by the second place 4x100-meter relay team of Boulard, Malcolm, Allen and Ernest. Asher Kyger ran her second NCAA qualifying performance of the season and a new personal best in the 800-meter (2:09.42). Emily Fletcher (4:32.23) led a group of four Bears to set personal bests in the 1,500-meter, including Terry Phillips at 4:37.55.
The momentum from Fayetteville carried into the MVC Outdoor Championships hosted by Southern Illinois. Leander Ernest won the 400-meter dash with teammate Yaneika Malcolm just behind in third. Both Ernest and Malcolm were part of the 4x400-meter relay team with Renna Berry and Jacqui Lindsey that won the conference title and ran a NCAA qualifying mark of 3:40.45. Ernest stayed busy adding a second-place finish in the 200-meter dash getting edged out of her third title by only two-tenths of a second. Terry Phillips (10:38.34) and Jamie Vest (10:38.42), separated by less than one-tenth of a second, gave MSU a two-three finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Both ran personal bests and NCAA qualifying performances. Asher Kyger put together two third-place finishes in the 1,500- and 800-meter runs. Carrie Vestal earned her third straight All-MVC honor in the 10,000-meters, placing third. She later added a fourth-place finish in the 5,000-meter. Mareneika Goffe gave the Bears an All-MVC honor from the field. Goffe placed third in the high jump.
NCAA COMPETITION
Missouri State sent a contingent of seven to the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. Jamie Vest took advantage of a new personal best (10:35.94) to place fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. That run qualified Vest for the NCAA National Championships. Teammate Terry Phillips also running the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finished 11th. Leander Ernest kept her sensational 2008 season going by qualifying for nationals with her fifth-place finish in the 800-meter run (2:08.47). Both Vest and Ernest received All-Region accolades for their performances. The 4x400-meter relay team had a strong performance coming in ninth. Ernest, Yaneika Malcolm, Cortene Boulard and Jacqui Lindsey worked together for a season best 3:39.43. Asher Kyger, placed 17th in the 1,500-meter run.
At the NCAA National Championships, held in Des Moines, Iowa, Ernest placed 19th with a time of 2:08.91 in the 800-meter run. Vest had a 26th-place finish in her event, the 3,000-meter steeplechase (10:58.75).
