Jan. 30, 2016
Results | Schedule | Season Results
PITTSBURG, Kan. - The Missouri State track and field team competed in its third meet of the 2015-16 indoor season at the Pittsburg State Invitational here Friday. Sprinters Marissa Kurtimah and Shavonne Husbands each tallied a first-place finish in an individual event at the meet while nine individuals grabbed a top-five finish for the Bears in eight events. The 4x400-meter relay team composed of Shani Adams, Kadisha Francois, Oarabile Babolayi, and Kurtimah also grabbed a first-place finish for MSU while the distance medley relay made up of Cindy Forde, Tenaly Smith, Erin Roebuck and Jade Raynor finished fourth.
There was no team scoring at today's meet.
Breaking the 60-meter dash school record for the second time this season was junior Kurtimah, who crossed the finish line first in the event with a facility time of 7.42 seconds. Two weeks ago, Kurtimah etched her name in the MSU record book with a time of 7.46 at the Arkansas Invitational.
"I try not to think of it as breaking a school record but making personal improvements," says Kurtimah. "If I keep breaking the record, then that means I am just that much closer to my goal (of running 7.2 seconds). I go into every race with the mentality that each race counts."
"I am impressed with how everyone has performed here today and the personal bests we have seen." Kurtimah commented. "We put a lot of effort into each practice and it is nice to come here and see the hard work unfold and pay off."
Aside from Kurtimah's first-place finish and record-breaking performance, nine competitors collected a top-five finish in their individual events including Husbands' first-place finish in the 200-meter dash, clocking in a facility time of 24.22. Husbands holds the MSU school record in the 200-meter dash (23.97) that she recorded in 2013.
Distance specialist Forde shaved more time off her personal best by finishing third in the mile with a time of 5:00.50. Distance teammate Raynor finished fifth in the 3,000-meter in a time of 10:28.65 in her first career attempt. In the 60-meter hurdles, seniors Holly Pattie-Belleli and Babolayi had a showing for the Bears racking in a fourth- and fifth-place finish, respectively. Pattie-Belleli's time of 8.59 seconds is a personal best and .08 seconds away from tying the school record. Babolayi picked up a second fifth-place finish in the 400-meter while Adams finished right ahead of her. Selena Buckner shaved nearly five seconds off her personal best in the 800-meter run crossing the finish line in 2:28.57.
On the field side, Daijha Heron leapt to a fourth-place finish in the long jump for the Bears with a jump of 5.62 meters.
The Bears will continue the indoor season when they travel to Lincoln, Neb. for the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational for their first two-day meet starting next Friday, February 5 and wrapping up on Saturday, February 6.
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