Oct. 25, 2015
SPRINGFIELD - The Missouri State cross country and track and field teams hosted their fourth annual awards banquet and silent auction Sunday at the Ramada Oasis Grand Ballroom here.
Head coach Ronald Boyce, who returns six of his seven NCAA regional qualifiers and seven outdoor all-conference performers this season, recapped last season's successes and presented a number of team awards.
The Barbados-native, has built the MSU women's program into one of the most respected programs in the Midwest over the last 20 years. His indoor and outdoor track and field teams have claimed nine Missouri Valley Conference Championships and have been Valley runners-up six times since he took the helm. In 2002-03, he claimed the league's first triple-crown winning the MVC in cross country, indoor and outdoor track. MSU track and field athletes have accumulated 145 individual and relay event championships and have brought home 462 all-conference medals since 1996.
Boyce has also helped the Missouri State program gain national recognition as the Bears routinely send athletes to the NCAA championships. Under Boyce's direction Missouri State women's track and field has compiled 45 NCAA regional qualifying performances on the track while MSU athletes have qualified for the NCAA national championships 38 times. In addition, athletes have also earned NCAA All-America status 25 times during Boyce's tenure.
Highlighting last season's run for Boyce's Bears was Oarabile Babolayi, now a senior, who broke the school 60 meter indoor hurdle record and then took another four seconds off of her time to hold the two fastest times at MSU. Likewise, then-freshman, Georgia Richardson broke the program's pole vault record during the outdoor season and continued to break her own record. Richardson now holds the top-five highest vaults at MSU, with the best mark being 3.62 meters. Also, freshman Melanie Raterman broke MSU's hammer throw record (48.66 meters) by over a meter (49.82 meters). In 2015, Raterman broke her own record by throwing 51.67 meters at the MVC Outdoor Championships.
Those individuals and others were presented with team laurels by Boyce on Sunday.
Freshman of the Year: Daijha Heron
Sophomore of the Year: Marissa Kurtimah
Junior of the Year: Babolayi
Senior of the Year: Althia Maximilien
Cross Country Athlete of the Year: Jessica Allen
Field Athlete of the Year: Robiann Broomfield
Track Athlete of the Year: Babolayi
Big Bear Award: Holly Pattie-Belleli
The MSU cross country team heads to Evansville, Ind. this Saturday, Oct. 31, to compete in the MVC Championship at 11 a.m. The track and field teams will kick off their 2015-16 indoor campaign on Friday, Dec. 4 at the Bob Timmons Classic in Lawrence, Kan.
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