June 4, 2015

A trio of Missouri State University track and field athletes will be representing their respective home countries in international competition this summer, including two standout Bears chosen to participate in the World University games.

Marissa Kurtimah (Guelph, Ontario) will be part of a 41-athlete contingent from Canada headed to the World University Games in Gwangju, South Korea, July 2-14. The track and field portion of the games takes place July 8-12 with Kurtimah competing in the 100-meter dash.

She is coming off an all-conference sophomore season for Coach Ron Boyce's team at MSU, where she finished third at the MVC Outdoor meet in the 200-meter dash and was an NCAA Regional qualifier in both the 100- and 200-meter dash events, finishing 14^th and 40^th, respectively, in those events last week in Austin, Texas.

Teammate Oarabile Babolayi (Mosetse, Botswana) ran for her native country at the IAAF/BRC World Relays in Jamaica in May and will join Kurtimah at the World University Games in the 100-meter and 400-meter hurdle events.

The junior has earned all-conference honors all three years at MSU and won the 2015 MVC outdoor title in the 400-meter hurdles while pacing the Valley runner-up 4x400 relay team. She was also an NCAA qualifier this spring for the Bears, placing 18^th at the Austin regional in the 400-meter hurdles and 43^rd in the 100-meter hurdles. Her time of 13.57 at the MVC outdoor meet, established a new Botswana record in the 100-meter hurdles.

Also on the move for the Bears this summer is junior Holly Pattie-Belleli (Onger, Essex), who will compete in the 100-meter hurdles at the elite Sainsbury's British Championships at Birmingham Alexander Stadium, July 3-5. With places on the Great Britain and Northern Ireland team for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing up for grabs, the British Championships are the premier summer track event for the entire UK.

Pattie-Belleli was an outdoor all-conference heptathlete for the Bears this spring and qualified for the NCAA Regional in the 100-meter hurdles and the 4x100-meter relay in Austin. She was 35^th at the 2015 NCAA preliminary meet in the hurdles, while helping MSU to a 22^nd-place showing in the sprint relay.

Boyce's squad will return six of its seven NCAA regional qualifiers and seven outdoor all-conference performers next season in hopes of improving on the club's fourth-place showing at the 2015 MVC Outdoor Championships.

 

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