April 9, 2016
Results | Schedule
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Missouri State track and field team competed in its third meet of the 2016 outdoor season at Gibson Invitational here. The Bears finished second in the team standings with 122 total points behind host and Valley foe Indiana State, who finished with 124.5. This will be the same facility used for the 2016 MVC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
"We are really proud of the efforts today," commented head coach Ronald Boyce. "Despite the cold weather, the team put their heads down and produced some stunning, league-leading results. The senior group put on a dazzling show and took total control of the jumps, sprints and hurdles. Now it is time for us to get back to work and continue to find ways to get better."
Illinois State (81), Loyola (24), and Bradley (1) rounded out finishes for fellow MVC programs.
Shining bright for the Bears were hurdlers Oarabile Babolayi, Holly Pattie-Belleli, and Shani Adams who were able to tally 42 points in two events for MSU. Pattie-Belleli took first in the 100-meter hurdles while teammate Babolayi following closely behind with season-best times of 13.84 and 13.93 seconds, respectively. In the 400-meter hurdles, it was Babolayi beating out Pattie-Belleli, crossing the line in a time of 1:00.21. Adams would round out the Bears' showing in the 400-meter hurdles with a third-place finish.
Three student-athletes - Shavonne Husbands, Marissa Kurtimah, and Asha Cave - recorded an impressive 37 points for the Bears in two events. Darting past the finish line in a facility and meet time of 23.63 seconds, Husbands' showing in the 200-meter dash was her first top-finish in the event of the season while Kurtimah followed closely behind clocking in a time of 24.20 seconds. In the 100-meter dash finals, Husbands and Kurtimah tallied season-best performances after finishing second and third with times of 11.54 and 11.55 seconds, respectively. Cave added four points to the team total by finishing the event in 11.89 seconds.
Adams, Babolayi, Husbands, and Kadisha Francois also aided in the season-best performance for the 4x400-meter relay showing at the meet finishing first with a facility record of 3:41.40.
Four Bears - Robiann Broomfield, Daijha Heron, Betsy Borgsmiller, and Pattie-Belleli - added 30 points to MSU's team total in three jumping events - long jump, triple jump, and high jump.
Accounting for 14 points, Broomfield, Pattie-Belleli, and Heron leapt to third-, fourth-, and sixth-place finishes, respectively in the long jump. For the second week in a row, Broomfield soared to a first-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 11.86 meters while teammate Heron tallied a fifth-place finish. In the high jump, Borgsmiller cleared 1.61 meters for the third time this season to add two points to the team total.
The Bears will continue the 2016 outdoor slate when they travel to Columbia, Mo. on April 16 for the Tom Botts Invitational.
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