SPRINGFIELD – The Missouri State cross country and track and field teams hosted their fifth annual awards banquet and silent auction Sunday (Oct. 23) at the Ramada Oasis Grand Ballroom.
 
Director of track and field and cross country, Ronald Boyce, who returns three of his five NCAA regional qualifiers and six 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 150 individual and relay event championships and have brought home over 475 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 51 NCAA regional qualifying performances on the track, while MSU athletes have qualified for the NCAA national championships 39 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 Marissa Kurtimah, who collected four top-finishes at the conference championships and broke two school records during the indoor and outdoor seasons. She also became the seventh MSU track member to represent her country at the Summer Olympic Games.
 
Sprinter Shavonne Husbands edged Kurtimah in the outdoor 200-meter dash by 0.005 seconds in MSU's first home meet at Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium, breaking a 20-year-old school record with a time of 23.12 seconds.
 
Pole vaulter, Georgia Richardson, cleared 3.41 meters and 3.66 meters during the indoor and outdoor seasons, respectively, to break the previous school record marks in the event. Melanie Raterman threw her way to a victory at the Missouri State Invitational, where the then-junior heaved a school-record throw of 52.30 meters in the hammer throw. Holly Pattie-Belleli broke the 10-year-old MSU record in the 100-meter hurdles on two occasions, the final time at the 2016 MVC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
 
Those individuals, and others, were presented with team laurels by Boyce and the MSU coaching staff on Sunday.
 
Freshman of the Year: Asha Cave
Sophomore of the Year: Daijha Heron
Junior of the Year: Marissa Kurtimah
Senior of the Year: Shavonne Husbands
Cross Country Athlete of the Year: Cindy Forde
Track Athlete of the Year: Marissa Kurtimah
Field Athlete of the Year: Robiann Broomfield
Big Bear Award: Holly Pattie-Belleli
 
The Missouri State cross country team heads to Cedar Falls, Iowa this Saturday, Oct. 29, to compete in the MVC Championships at 10:30 a.m.