MVC Release
 
ST. LOUIS – For the second-straight season, Missouri State's Marissa Kurtimah has been awarded the Missouri Valley Conference's first Female Track Athlete of the Week honor of the season, the league office announced on Tuesday (Dec. 6).
 
The Bears opened the 2016-17 indoor slate at the Bob Timmons Challenge this past weekend, hosted by the University of Kansas. Kurtimah was one of two MSU student-athletes to compete in two events and place in the top-three in both events.
 
The sprinter paced the Bears, finishing second in the 60-meter dash in 7.50 seconds before clocking in the winning time of 24.75 seconds in the 200-meter dash. Kurtimah edged Kansas' Nicole Montgomery by 0.03 seconds to take the 200-meter dash title.
 
The Valley also announced that Missouri State is projected to finish sixth at the 2017 MVC Indoor Track and Field Championships, in a poll of league head coaches. The 2017 indoor meet will be hosted by UNI in Cedar Falls, Iowa, February 25-26.
 
Kurtimah and the Bears will continue the indoor season after the turn of the calendar at the Missouri Invitational (Jan. 20) in Columbia, Mo. at the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse.