LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Missouri State track and field team closed the books on its 2021 outdoor regular season with an impressive outing here Saturday at the final day of the Rock Chalk Classic.
 
Overall for the weekend, the Bears collected 11 top-10 finishes, including a pair of top-five times in today's 100-meter dash with Madison Meredith earning the event title and Nakaja Weaver following in fifth.
 
The gusty winds out at Rock Chalk Park reached above the allowable limit for qualifying purposes as the heavy tailwind made for some blazing times and marks in the meet finale
 
"It was great for the team to get another competitive meet with good weather," said Bears head coach Jordan Fife.  "We had some really fast, wind-aided marks that boosted the morale and confidence of our sprint and hurdle groups.  We should be well-prepared for the conference championships in two weeks."
 
Meredith captured her third 100-meter title of the season as she was first to the finish line with a time of 11.28.  Weaver (11.61) was second in her heat and finished fifth overall to split the event's top-5 with the Kansas duo of Jedah Caldwell (11.39) and Morganne Mukes (11.55) who took the No. 2 and No. 4 spots. 
 
The MSU 4x100-meter relay team of Weaver, Meredith, Calandra Henry and Timeka Jordan passed the baton around in 46.71 seconds and placed second, crossing ahead of third-place Southern Illinois who the Bears will see again in a couple of weeks at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championship.
 
After earning third in the high jump yesterday, Jessica Haney turned around and marked a leap of 11.69 meters in the triple jump that finished her ninth on the results sheet.
 
Sierra Williams and Edna Dar finished in the top-5 of their heat of the 800-meter run.  Williams recorded a 2:13.93 pace and finished 12th overall for the event while Dar came in at the 2:16.35 point which put her 17th.   
 
Mackenzie Ihasz and Manuela Ngo Tonye Nyemeck completed their lap around the track in consecutive order in their heat of the 400-meter run as they had respective finishes of 14th and 16th overall.
 
To close out the weekend in Lawrence, the Bears 4x400-meter relay team – Ihasz, Williams, Dar and Ngo Tonye Nyemeck – completed its time under the four-minute mark with a 3:59.82.
 
Missouri State now turns its attention to the MVC Outdoor Championship which will take place on May 14-16 in Carbondale, Ill. with SIU playing host to this year's league meet.