Columbia, Mo. – The Missouri State track and field team tallied 12 top-five performances in eight different events at the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse on Friday (Jan. 20). The Missouri Invitational was just the second outing of the 2016-17 indoor season for the Bears after traveling to the Bob Timmons Challenge (Dec. 2) to begin the season.
 
Notable performances by Chicago Bains, Olivia Ott and Kelli Bowen started the day on the track for the Bears. In the preliminary round of the 60-meter hurdles, Ott and Bowen both collected a personal best time of 9.53 seconds while Bains finished second in the final round with a time of 9.01 seconds.
 
Marissa Kurtimah and Asha Cave ousted 30 student-athletes to advance to the final round of the 60-meter dash, where they finished second and fourth, respectively, with season-best times of 7.46 seconds and 7.72 seconds, respectively.
 
MSU's top distance performer, Jessica Allen, knocked 12 seconds off her personal best time in the mile run, finishing fourth overall with a time of 5:18.95. In the 3,000-meter run, Allen was the sixth of 21 competitors to cross the line, clocking in a time of 10:40.67 in the event.
 
In the field, throwers Melanie Raterman and Brittany McPike hurled third- and fifth-place finishes, respectively, in the weight throw. All five long jumpers – Ott, Bowen, Daijha Heron, Chelsey Linton and Sidne Williamson – finished in the top-11 for Missouri State in a field of 21 student-athletes.
 
Five newcomers – Bains, Linton, Danielle Bohannon, Grace Breiten and Maya Genard – showed promise after compiling top-10 performances in at least one of their individual events. Kayla Farris and Sidne' Williamson also joined fellow newcomers, aiding in two separate 4x400-meter relays that both finished in the top-10.
 
Missouri State will return to the University of Kansas for the second time in three outings for the Jayhawk Classic next Friday (Jan. 27).