OXFORD, Miss. - Nine top-ten finishes and nine personal bests later, the Track and Field Bears put a cap on their third meet of the outdoor season, Saturday's Ole Miss Invitational.
Despite solid performances from the team overall, it was Staci Nelson (Sr., Chatham, Ill.) and Shantel Llewellyn (Jr., Ajax, Ontario) who stole the show.
Nelson, returning from a week off, made her 2010 steeplechase debut in style. She took home first, running a 10:44.30 and winning by more than 11 seconds. It is a 27-second improvement over her previous personal best and establishes her as the top MVC steeplechaser this spring.
Running the 200-meter dash in a field of 79, Llewellyn finished fifth at 24.65. Her time ties teammate Rashida Allen's from the Razorback Spring Invitational atop The Valley event leaderboard. She also ran the fastest 100-meter of any Bear this season, finishing in 12.16 on her way to a seventh-place finish. It marks the third-straight week she has finished in the event's top seven.
The 5,000-meter run treated the Bears well for a second-straight week. On the heels of Mari-Jean Vance's (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) and Andrea Marshall's (So., Fenton, Mo.) 1-2 finish at the Joey Haines Invitational, Emily Beaver (Fr., Diamond, Mo.) and Stephanie Harres (Jr., Columbia, Ill.) placed second and fourth, respectively, this week. And while Beaver and Harres did not beat them in place, they did beat them in time, producing the two fastest 5,000-meter runs of any Bears this year, indoor or outdoor. The duo earned personal bests of 17:42.91 and 17:51.80.
The rookies and the veterans contributed for the Bears. Making her collegiate debut, freshman Ariel Butzine (Lake Villa, Ill.) finished the 800-meter run in 2:19.98, placing ninth. Running with Llewellyn in the 200-meter dash, junior Rashida Allen (Montego Bay, Jamaica) finished 14th with a time of 24.90.
Sophomore Jeláni Kelly (St. Louis, Mo.) topped her hammer throw personal best by more than 25 feet with a 151-00.00 mark and earned a third-place finish in the discus throw (154-05.00). Also in the field, Kimsue Grant (Fr., Arlington, Va.) placed ninth in the triple jump with a personal best, 38-07.00.
The Kansas Relays are up next for the Bears. The two-day event will be Wednesday and Thursday, April 14-15.
