Jan. 23, 2013
Rod McCravy Memorial Meet Schedule
With the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships less than a month away, the Missouri State track & field squad will continue its preparations with a trip to Lexington, Ky. for the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet. The two-day event will commence at 9 a.m. CST on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 25-26).
The Bears should be well-rested for this meet after giving several of their top student-athletes a chance to take a breather at last weekend's Missouri Invitational in Columbia, Mo. Nevertheless, head coach Ronald Boyce's charges energized the MSU showing with first-place finishes by Pernell Joseph and Althia Maximilien and a handful of personal best times.
Joseph's personal-best time of 7.51 seconds in the 60-meter dash preliminary round is the second-best mark in the event this year in the Missouri Valley Conference. Meanwhile, Kimsue Grant continues to lead the conference in the long jump and the triple jump. The senior's personal-best triple jump distance of 12.57 meters at last weekend's meet is the best Valley mark by over half a meter.
The Bears will be tested by a strong field of participating teams, as the squad will be joined in the Bluegrass State by No. 1 Clemson, MVC foe Southern Illinois and in-state rival Missouri.
Joseph is slated to run the 60-meter dash once again, and will be joined in the event by Grant, freshman Shavonne Husbands and sophomore Gabriella Ade-Onojobi. Joseph, Husbands, Ade-Onojobi and Grant will also compete in the 200-meter dash along with sophomore Althia Maximilien. Husbands' 200-meter dash time of 24.21 seconds is still tops among Valley student-athletes in that event.
Maximilien, freshman Oarabile Babolayi and junior Alyx Dull round out Missouri State's sprint participants in the 400-meter dash.
The Bears will send a handful of distance runners to the meet, led by Emily Beaver in the mile run. The senior from Diamond, Mo. this year has posted a pair of top-20 times among Valley runners in the mile (5:11.61) and 3,000-meters (10:37.20). Freshman Tenaly Smith will join Beaver in the mile event.
Senior Nicole Thate and freshman Cindy Forde will compete for the 800-meter run title, and junior Lisa Imgrund will race in the 3,000 meters.
Missouri State's cast of jumpers - Jordan Bond, Gemma Smith, Betsy Borgsmiller and Grant - will represent the Bears in Kentucky. Grant will look to beat her personal best distance of 6.07 meters in the long jump, while Bond will look to improve upon her marks of 1.69 meters and 12.30 meters in the high jump and triple jump, respectively. Smith will participate in all three events and Borgsmiller - a freshman - will continue to develop in the high jump.
