Big Day For Racers at First Annual Margaret Simmons Invite

Saturday, April 6

Murray, Ky.

Murray State

Margaret Simmons Invitational

Photo by: Murray State Sports Information

Big Day For Racers at First Annual Margaret Simmons Invite

4/6/2013 4:49:00 PM | Women's Track and Field

Results (.pdf) | Photo Gallery

The first annual Margaret Simmons Invitational was a successful meet for the Murray State track and field team. The Racers won 12 events on the day and also compiled multiple season and career-bests at the meet.

Tonia Pratt had an outstanding day in the field events Saturday, winning all three of her events and set a new career-high and two season-bests. Pratt won the hammer throw winning by over 12 meters and setting a new career-high with a throw of 174'-11”. Pratt set a new season-high in the discus with a toss of 154'-0.75”. Pratt finished the trifecta winning the shot put by tying a season-best with a heave of 45'-5” in the event.

All-American Alexis Love took first in the 100-meter dash, winning with a time of 12.34. LaShea Shaw was second with a time of 12.59, setting a new season-best. Hannah McAllister was third, finishing with a time of 12.95.

Shaw and McAllister also had outstanding races in the 200. Shaw won the event running a new career-best time of 25.54. McAllister was second with a time of 26.80.

MSU swept the top-three in the 100-meter hurdles, as Sharda Bettis won the event with a time of 14.56. Shaw was second with a time of 14.89 and Kiara Austin took third with a time of 15.93.

KeLai Hicks set a new PR in the 400 dash. Hicks won the event with a career-best time of 1:01.14. The Racers got another one-two finish in the 800 meters. Emma Gilmore won the race with a season-best time of 2:18.33, while Natalie Pattin took second with a career-best time of 2:19.95.

In the 3,000, the Racers got a great race from Carolyne Tanui as she ran a new career-best time of 10:24.35 and won the event. Abbie Oliver was third with a time of 10:26.87. The Racers got a pair of second-place finishes in the 1,500 and 3,000 steeple chase. Brittany Bohn set a new season-best in the 1,500 with a time of 4:56.60, while Ali Hester set a new PR in the steeple with a time of 11:55.22.

The jumps were solid on the day for Murray State as well as the Racers finished first, second and third in the long jump. Miranda Rorer won the event with a career-high jump of 17'-8”. Ashley Conway was second with a season-best leap of 17'-5”. Lauren Miller was third and set a new PR with a jump of 16'-10.75”.

Both Conway and Katie Forshey had jumps of 5'-3” in the high jump to take first and second, respectively. Conway won the event since it took fewer attempts for her to clear the height than Forshey. The height set a new season best for Forshey.

The Racers grabbed another first and second in the triple jump as Austin won the event with a leap of 38'-5.75”. Jill Jachino took second with a career-best jump of 35'-8”.

MSU picked up more solid performances in the throwing events. Mariah Hoke took second in the discus with a career-high toss of 121'-1”, while Brianna McCarthy took third with a season-high throw of 118'-6”. McCarthy also took third in the hammer with a career-best throw of 134'1”. Addie Paris threw a season-best of 37'-6.75” in the shot put and placed third.

Murray State men's cross country athletes also competed in a couple of the men's distance races on Saturday and performed well. The Racers had their best finish in the 3,000 as Clayton Hall took second with a time of 9:33.37. Lucas Prather passed a UT Martin runner in the final 100 meters to take third in the race with a time of 9:51.05.

Hall of famer Margaret Simmons, who was the Racers' first head women's track and field coach, was honored prior to the 100-meter hurdles. Simmons coached at MSU for 23 seasons beginning in 1968 and led the Racers to eight OVC Championships and was named Coach of the Year four times in the league. Simmons coached four OVC Athletes of the Year and two All-Americans during her career.