SPRINGFIELD - The Missouri State track and field team will kick off the 2017 outdoor season at the Bulldog Relays, hosted by Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., on March 17-18. The field events will start with the hammer throw on Friday (March 17) at 11 a.m. with the 4x200 relay marking the start of running events at 3 p.m. On Saturday (March 18), the javelin throw will start at 10 a.m. and the 4x100 relay will begin at 12 p.m.

 

Missouri State Track and Field at the Bulldog Relays
Dates	March 17-18, 2017 All Day
Location	Starkville, Miss.
Site	Mike Sanders Track Complex
Meet Information	Schedule of Events | Live Results
MissouriStateBears.com	Track and Field Homepage
Connect	@MSUBearsTrackXC | Bears on Facebook |  Bears on Instagram | #MSUBears

Keeping Track of the Bears:

• The Bears will compete against Alabama, Arkansas State, Southern Miss and New Orleans as well as Bulldogs Relays meet host Mississippi State.
• The outdoor squad returns three of the four sprinters, Asha Cave, Marissa Kurtimah and Holly Pattie-Belleli, from the 2016 4x100 relay squad that finished 21^st in the NCAA Division I Women's Track and Field Championships with a time of 45.15. 
• Seven Bears – Marissa Kurtimah, Asha Cave, Kadisha Francois, Holly Pattie-Belleli, Shani Adams, Daijha Heron and Melanie Raterman – all collected individual top-8 finishes at the MVC Outdoor Championship last season. Kurtimah, Cave and Pattie-Belleli each picked up two individual top-8 finishes.
• Sprinter Marissa Kurtimah looks to return to the podium after she collected the gold in the 100-meter dash (11.34) and 200-meter dash (23.38) at the 2016 MVC Outdoor Championship. Kurtimah shares the MSU school record in the 200-meter dash with Shavonne Husbands, both posting a time of 23.12 at the 2016 Missouri State Invitational.
• Last season, Holly Pattie-Belleli reset the school record in the 100-meter hurdles, posting a silver medal finish time of 13.27 seconds at the MVC Outdoor Championship.
• Thrower Melanie Raterman paced the Bears in the hammer throw last season, tossing a school record distance of 53.20 meters at the Missouri State Invitational. 
• Junior Jessica Allen, senior Cindy Forde and newcomer Paityn Howat, all look to set the pace for the Bears' distance squad in the outdoor season. Allen is coming off a strong indoor season where she netted points for MSU in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter events at the MVC Indoor Championship. Forde last competed for the Bears during the 2016 indoor season while Howat is a mid-year transfer from Kansas State.
• Director of track and field and cross country, Ronald Boyce, enters his 21^st season at the helm in 2016-17. In his time at MSU, his indoor and outdoor track and field teams have claimed nine Missouri Valley Conference Championships and have been Valley runners-up six times.