Meet Results
 
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Backed by seven top-3 finishes, the Missouri State track and field team scored 74 points—64 of those coming on the final day—to finish third in the team standings at the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championship here Sunday.
 
The 4x400-meter relay team of India McNeill, Chanice Forbes, Jayda Buchannan, and Malia Watkins pushed the Bears past Indiana State (72.33) and UNI (71.5) by placing second in the final event of the competition.  Going into the race, MSU stood outside the top-3 by just 4.33 points, but the Bears' relay used a season-best time of 3:45.86 to give the team its highest finish at the MVC meet since winning the championship in 2012. 
 
"It was such an exciting weekend for our team and this program," said head coach Jordan Fife.  "Every point matters at the conference championship and there were so many events where we were able to squeeze out an extra point or two which ended up making a huge difference."
 
"We had people in so many events outperform their rank coming into the meet.  The 4x4 team ran such a gutsy race and they, along with all of our competitors this weekend, left it all on the track to move us into third place."
 
Overall, nine Bears collected all-conference laurels throughout the two-day meet, including the distance medley relay team that placed third in yesterday's race.  Watkins was named Freshman of the Year after tallying points in the 60-meter (3rd) and 200-meter (2nd) sprints as well as running the final leg of the 4x400 relay.
 
Edna Dar closed the book on a stellar sophomore campaign with her second-place finish in the mile.  The Toronto-native ran the program's third fastest indoor time, crossing at the 4:52.34-mark to bag her first individual all-conference distinction.  Grace Breiten followed closely behind Dar to earn fourth with her time of 5:03.13 and put points on the board at the indoor championship for the fifth time in her MSU career.
 
The 60-meter dash proved to be the Bears' most lucrative race with Timeka Jordan and Watkins packing a 1-2 punch to take two of the top-3 slots.  Jordan matched her career best in the event, racing to the runner-up spot with a 7.65.  Watkins was the next runner across the finish line to earn third on a time of 7.69 for her first of three podium finishes on the day.  Calandra Henry rounded out the Bears trio by placing sixth (7.75) to cap MSU's total at 17 points in the event.
 
Watkins found the podium again with a second-place outing in the 200-meter dash.  The freshman sprinter blazed her way with a 24.59 time to punctuate an outstanding debut at the conference meet. 
 
For the third consecutive year, James garnered all-conference honors in the triple jump, leaping to a second-place finish with a mark of 12.33 meters.  The senior from Ontario, Canada follows up an event title from 2019 and a silver medal performance from 2018.
 
Jessica Haney placed fourth in the high jump after clearing a mark of 1.70 meters.  She went out on the same height as the two finishers ahead of her, but lost on the tiebreaker after clipping the bar on her first attempt of the round.
 
In the finals of the 400-meter dash, Forbes edged out a seventh-place result, stretching ahead of Bradley's Hannah Ivy to finish with a time of 57.32.  She went on to notch another point for the Bears by closing out the scoring in the 200-meter field with her time of 25.64.
 
Talia Emerson chipped in two points for the Bears with her time in the 60-meter hurdles.  She ran her fastest hurdle time of the season with an 8.96 to place seventh.
 
"Regardless of how that final race went, we were already so proud of the whole team's effort throughout the weekend," added Fife.  "The boost to third overall was just the cherry on top."
 
This weekend's performance polishes off an impressive indoor season for a Missouri State squad that featured a mix of exciting newcomers and savvy veterans.  The Bears now turn their attention to the outdoor slate, opening up with the Oral Roberts Invitational on March 27-28.
 
For more information on the Missouri State track and field team, visit MissouriStateBears.com or visit the team Twitter @MSUBearsTrackXC and Facebook.