Jan. 23, 2015
Track & Field | Roster | Twitter | Meet Results
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The first of back-to-back meets hosted by Alabama-Birmingham, featured 10 individual personal bests for the Missouri State Bears in the UAB Vulcan Invitational held at the Birmingham CrossPlex.
“We started off sluggish with that long bus ride, but the girls really picked it up,” director of track & field and cross country Ronald Boyce. “More and more of them are getting comfortable, and that’s what we need.”
Missouri State’s 4x400 team ran their fastest relay of the year. The 3:44.10 time smoked the competition on Friday, with no other school finishing within six seconds of the Bears.
Both Oarabile Babolayi (8.75) and Holly Pattie-Belleli (8.83) set new personal bests in the 60 meter hurdle prelims. Babolayi dropped another one-hundredth of a second in the event finals to place fourth overall at 8.74.
The MSU distance crew ran a stellar 800 meter run. Rosalie Pringle (2:15.71) and Cindy Forde (2.18.75) set their collegiate bests, while Tenaly Smith kept pace at 2:18.15. Both milers set personal indoor indoor records as Oliviah Sloan and Savannah Beaver ran 5:21.31 and 5:21.43, respectively.
For the third consecutive week, Erin Roebuck set a personal record. The sophomore placed first in her heat, and 12th overall, with her 25.65 in the 200m dash. Kadisha Francois also won her heat at 25.52, while Shavonne Husbands finished seventh overall at 25.22.
Daijha Heron led the Bears for the first time in her career. The freshman placed fifth in the long jump after reaching the 5.52 meter mark. Junior Holly Pattie-Belleli set her new career best at 5.40m, finishing eighth overall. Thrower Mirissa Massey also set her personal best mark with an 11.76m weight throw.
“Tomorrow will be good for us to compete again,” said Boyce. “Conference is a two-day meet, and even though these are different meets, going Friday and Saturday will help us down the road.”
Missouri State will compete again on Saturday in UAB’s Green and Gold Invite at the same venue. Running events are scheduled to start at 8 a.m.
