BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The track and field Bears concluded the Indiana Relays, Saturday, behind a strong team effort that saw all three phases - field, distance and track - put a good foot forward. Terry Phillips and Kimsue Grant led the way for the Bears in their second-last meet before the MVC Championships.
Day Two
Competing in the long jump invitational, Grant (So., Arlington, Va.) finished third with a jump of 18-05.75. She just missed beating her personal best (18-06.00), which she set in a win at the Missouri Invitational.
Cheyenne Stewart (So., Chirst Church, Barbados) finished seventh in the high jump invitational with a mark of 5-04.25.
Ashton Stubbs (Fr., Platte City, Mo.) and Erin Edwards (Fr., Kansas City, Mo.) placed six-seven in their first collegiate 5,000-meter run. Stubbs clocked in at 18:30.39 and Edwards crossed the line at 18:36.70.
Day One
Kimsue Grant's personal best in the triple jump, 40-01.25, placed her third in a highly competitive field. Her teammates Jordan Bond (So., Normal, Ill.) and Ahshane Johnson (Fr., Moberly, Mo.) joined her in the top ten. Bond was seventh, 38-01.50, while Johnson's personal best (38-01.25) was eighth. With the performances, the Bears now have three of the top-five triple jumpers in the Missouri Valley Conference. Grant is second, only one inch off the top performance.
Terry Phillips (Jr., Kansas City, Mo.) was strong for the second-straight meet. Two weeks after winning two events at the Saluki Open, Phillips finished second in the 3,000-meter run invitational and was the top collegiate finisher. Her time of 9:40.25 minutes is the third-fastest finish of any MVC runner this season.
In the open running of the 3,000-meter, the Bears had another second-place finisher in Theresa Brokaw (Sr., Stronghurst, Ill.). The Illinois transfer ran in 9:58.84 to finish ahead of fellow Bears Emily Beaver, sixth, and Leah Nichols, eighth. Both set personal bests, with Beaver (So., Diamond, Mo.) running in 10:05.17 minutes and Nichols (Fr., Orlando, Fla.) in 10:14.30. Brokaw now holds the fourth-fastest time in The Valley.
In the 200-meter dash, all four newcomers had MSU personal bests led by Pernell Joseph and Sydney Peavy. The Vieux Fort, St. Lucia native finished seventh in the seeded heat, running in 25.49 seconds. Joseph also qualified for Saturday's 60-meter dash semifinals (7.82 seconds) by finishing eighth.
Peavy (Fr., Kansas City, Mo.) had the fastest time of any Bears when she finished in 25.31 seconds. Her time was good for ninth place in the event's invitational running. Also setting MSU bests in the event were Kara-Aretha Graham (Sr., London, England), 26.37 seconds, and Alyx Dull (Fr., Clinton, Mo.), 25.68. Dull joined Joseph in the 60-meter dash semifinals after she qualified with a 13th-place, 7.85-second finish.
The Bears are off until they take to the track for their final MVC Championships warm-up at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., Feb. 11-12.
