MANHATTAN, Kan. – Edna Dar, Adyson Delaney, and Jamilah James each captured individual titles for Missouri State women's track and field to close out the DeLoss Dodds Invitational here Saturday afternoon.
 
"As expected, we were a lot more relaxed this weekend which led to better all-around performances," said head coach Jordan Fife.  "Our athletes who competed in multiple events did a great job of recovering and getting ready for their next events."
 
Day 2
The Bears earned a total of 10 top-3 finishes to score 143 of their 155 points on the final day of the meet as they finished in second place of the team scoring behind host Kansas State (277).  Arkansas-Pine Bluff (90), Central Oklahoma (58), Northwestern Oklahoma (22), and Langston (20) rounded out the final four spots of the two-day competition.
 
James secured the top spot in the triple jump with her leap of 11.49m.  Olivia Richards registered a mark of 10.48m which placed her fourth in the event.
 
The MSU distance group took a pair of titles with Dar (5:00.78) coming in first in the mile and Delaney (10:27.89), who was the first of the three Bears' runners that went top-3 in the 3,000-meter race.  Grace Breiten and Shelby Palmer posted times of 10:29.02 and 10:31.67, respectively, to join Delaney as the top finishers in the 3,000m.
 
Dar continued with her stellar day as she earned third place in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:56.91 while Jasmine Crawford (3:11.47) finished two spots back to place fifth.
 
Kennedy Aurentz picked up eight points for the Bears in the shot put with her 13.35m throw.  Jessica Haney cleared the 1.66m mark in the high jump to finish fourth.
 
In the sprints, Malia Watkins impressed with a 7.81 60-meter time to place second while earning third in the 200-meter dash (24.93).  Calandra Henry (7.83) and A'Mira Askew (7.91) joined Watkins in the 60m to go two-three-four in the race.  MSU took six of the top-10 spots in the 200m with Watkins (3rd), Henry (5th), Askew (8th), Chanice Forbes (7th), Jayda Buchannan (9th), and India McNeill (10th) crossing the finish line for the Bears.
 
The Bears' 4x400-meter relay team of Buchannan, Watkins, Mackenzie Ihasz, and Manuela Ngo Tonye Nyemeck closed out the meet with a third-place finish on a 3:58.99 pace.
 
"Today's meet provided some quality experience that will be very beneficial when we get to the conference meet," added Fife.  "The goal is improvement and finding positives from our performances from week-to-week and we are doing just that."

Day 1
MSU sits in third place in the team scoring with 12 points, leading Central Oklahoma (11) by one point while Kansas State (131) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (45) hold the top-two spots.
 
The Bears placed two runners in the top-10 of the 400-meter run with Chanice Forbes (7th) and Jayda Buchannan (9th) posting times of 58.87 and 1:00.14, respectively.  Mackenzie Ihasz (1:00.73), Manuela Ngo Tonye Nyemeck (1:01.16), Briana Johnson (1:01.44), and O'Shayla Muldrow (1:03.11) finished three seconds apart to round out the MSU runners in the race. 
 
Jamilah James opened her junior campaign with her 5.25m leap in the long jump to finish sixth.  The Bears had four other jumpers compete alongside James in the event with Talia Emerson (5.06m), Rochelle Etienne (4.74m), and Olivia Richards (4.30m) each making their first entry this season.  Rachel Lacey improved on her mark from last week's Arkansas Invitational with a leap of 4.64m.
 
Kennedy Aurentz followed up her MSU debut from last week with a 14.41-meter toss in the weight throw to receive an eighth-place finish in the event.
 
In the 800-meter run, Taylor Holtz ran a 2:26.98 to place ninth with Emily Yaeger following close behind to finish 11th at the 2:30.83 mark.
 
Missouri State will be back on the track on Feb. 1 with the Pittsburg Invitational from Robert W. Plaster Center in Pittsburg, Kan.

For more information on the Missouri State track and field team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or visit the team Twitter @MSUBearsTrackXC and Facebook.