PITTSBURG, Kan. – With several Bears recording top finishes, the Missouri State track and field team wrapped up its third outdoor meet of the season here Saturday at the Gorilla Classic hosted by Pittsburg State.
Margo Nea kicked off the track events strong, for MSU, competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. A second shy of her lifetime best, her time of 11:25.66 earned her a first-place finish in the event.
The Bears relay team found success Saturday at the invitational as well as Charity Obazughanmwen, Calandra Henry, Hayden Gray and Tamera Rhode found themselves finishing the 4x100-meter relay at the top of the pack. The team raced to a time of 46.94 to beat out eight other opponents who were entered in the relay.
"We were able to take advantage of some nice weather today to get a few season and lifetime bests on the day which was great to see," said head coach Jordan Fife.
Obazughanmwen also highlighted the Bears' 100-meter efforts, narrowly missing the podium in fourth place with a time of 12.18 seconds.
Racing in the 200-meter Henry earned a spot on the podium. Her time of 24.38 gave her a third-place finish out of the deep field of 63 competitors. Gray, Manuela Ngo Tonye Nyemeck and Whitney Farrington also raced in the event, finishing in 22nd, 23rd and 25th place, respectively.
Ngo Tonye Nyemeck and Rhode represented the Bears in the 400-meter, with the former finishing eighth with a lifetime best time of 58.10 and the latter finishing 13th (59.26).
Elsewhere in middle distance, Victory Ifah recorded a personal best 800-meter time of 2:21.57 to finish sixth while freshman Katie Griffin snuck inside the top-15 in 15th place (2:27.02).
Kate Anderson had a strong showing in the 100-meter hurdles, narrowly missing the top three in fourth place (15.53).
On the distance side of things, all four Bears competing in the 1,500-meter recorded lifetime bests. Adrien Martens led the way in the event, finishing 12th with a time of 4:57.54 while Grace Buschling also made her way into the top-15 with a time of 5:01.59. Natalie Clayton and Mihane Nambara raced personal best times with the former clocking a 5:02.76 and the latter a 5:08.50.
Nakaja Weaver and Reagan Reedy helped lead MSU's field efforts at the classic, as both recorded top-10 finishes in their respective events. In the long jump, Weaver leapt to a mark of 5.26 meters to finish sixth while Reedy's javelin throw of 41.39 meters was two meters shy of her previous top throw and landed her in seventh place.
"It's exciting to see so many people trending in the right direction," concluded Fife.
Next up for MSU is a trip to the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif., Thursday, April 13-Saturday, April 16.
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