The Missouri State track and field team will travel to Joplin, Mo., this Friday and Saturday to compete in the Fazoli’s/Baymont Inn Missouri Southern Open Invitational hosted by Missouri Southern University. The meet begins Friday at 2:30 p.m. and Saturday’s events begin at 10:30 a.m. with both days’ events being held inside the Leggett and Platt Athletic Center.
The Bears will look to continue the success achieved last week in Columbia and prepare for next week’s meet in Fayetteville, Ark. This week, Missouri State plans to focus on the field events.
Coach Ron Boyce said this week’s meet will give the field athletes another platform to compete as the Bears look to fill the field with jumpers and throwers. “We are looking to boost our field events at this week’s meet,” said Boyce.
This week, the Missouri State track and field team announced two additions to their squad. Shantel Llewellyn and Britain Blackmon transferred to Missouri State and will be eligible to compete in the 2009 track and field season.
Llewellyn, a sophomore, comes to Missouri State from Mid-American Nazarene University in Olathe, Kan. At MNU, Llewellyn had bests of 12.00 seconds for the 100-meter and 24.62 seconds for 200-meter. Before MNU, Llewellyn was a standout for Coach Anthony D’Oliveira at Pine Ridge High School in Ontario, Canada. As a prep, Llewellyn posted personal bests of 7.82 seconds for the 60-meter dash indoors, 12.16 seconds for 100-meter and 24.44 for 200-meter. After winning the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations Central Regional in the 100- and 200-meter, along with a third place showing in the 400-meter, Llewellyn qualified for the OFSAA Championships where she placed eighth in the 100-meter (12.25) and second in the 200-meter (24.84).
Also a sophomore, Blackmon, joins the MSU program after starting her career at the University of Louisiana-Monroe. She will also compete for Coach Greg Hipp in cross country beginning next season. At ULM, Blackmon was the top distance runner for the Warhawks in their most recent cross country season. As a freshman Blackmon posted personal bests of 4:43.34 for 1,500-meter and 2:17.72 for 800-meter. Blackmon, from Dardanelle, Ark., completed her prep running at Russellville High School, where she also competed on the swimming team.
