Murray State University Athletics
Murray State
Gladstein Invitational
MSU track & Field Competes At Indiana - Jones PR In Mile
1/31/2008 6:00:00 AM | Women's Track and Field
The Racers kicked off their first regular track season this weekend at the Gladstein Invitational with personal records and large improvements from their meet before winter break.
Freshman Katelyn Jones cut 30 seconds off her mile time from the previous meet. She won her heat with a time of 5:00.90 which would have placed her sixth overall in a field of 36 competitors.
Senior Shameka Dial also had an outstanding meet by throwing an indoor personal best in shot put with a mark of 13.27 m (43'6“).
Dial said she was very happy to see all her training over winter break was worth it.
“It felt really good to PR (get a personal best) at the beginning of the season,” Dial said. “It means that all my training and all those hard times in the weight room have paid off. My goal for the next meet is to get more comfortable in the ring.”
Junior Maggie McKay and sophomore Chelsea Hosey both had good meets by placing seventh and ninth overall in the high jump. McKay and Hosey reached a height of 1.60m (5'3”) and 1.55m (5'1”).
Freshman Audris Williams made the finals in the 60 m dash with a qualifying time of 7.95 sec.
Even though the meet wasn't scored, Head Track Coach Derek Chavis was very happy with the individual and overall team performance after a long winter break.
“I talked to the team about context in our (post-meet) meeting,” Chavis said. “I wanted them to understand that we preformed well against teams that were in their third or fourth week of competition. Everyone had great performances and this meet was a great way to start off our season.”
Chavis said it was clear that the Racers are on the brink of a great season and is looking forward to seeing his athletes make progress in their up coming meets.
“I know we'll start seeing significant progress in the next few weeks with better training and by focusing more on skills,” Chavis said. “We use the meets prior to conference as benchmarks and I know as the season gets underway the team with have even better performances.”
The Racers will return to
