Racers Place 2nd At SIU Indoor Invitational

Friday, February 3

Carbondale, Ill.

Murray State

Southern Illinois

Photo by: Will Becque-Southern Illinois Athletics

2/5/2017 2:56:00 PM | Women's Track and Field

Results Results (PDF)

The Murray State women's track & field squad competed over the weekend at the Don DeNoon Invitational. The two-day event was hosted by Southern Illinois at the Student Recreation Center in Carbondale, Ill.

In their first scored event of the 2017 season, the Racers placed second with 86.6 points, behind host and winner SIU at 140 points. The Racers defeated third place Memphis (61pts), fourth place Arkansas State (34) and fifth place SIUE (26).

A second-place showing in the field of 13 teams pleased Murray State head coach Jenny Swieton.

"I think everyone is beginning to turn the corner and their fitness is improving," she said. "They're coming off a period of hard training and still performing well. We're getting better in each event and to have a second place finish, it's just super."

The Racers have one final event before the Ohio Valley Conference championships when they compete at the Samford Open (Feb. 10-11) in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Murray State men's cross country team also took the opportunity to run some of the events.

Here is a breakdown of the top performances for the Racers at SIU.

Pentathlon
The Racers had four competitors participate in the Pentathlon on Friday night. When the results were tallied from the five events, Jabreuna Brimlett was MSU's top finisher with a spot in fourth place. Taylor McCammon placed fifth and Aubrey Main sixth. Main won the high jump and 800 meter run. MSU's Jocelyn Payne placed eighth in the final standings.

Sprints
MSU's Tamdra Lawrence placed second in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.58.

Jabreuna Brimlett and Taylor McCammon were first and third in the 60m hurdles with times of 8.62 and 8.88.

Norma Abdur-Rafia was second in the 200m run with a time of 24.62. Lawrence placed fourth at 25.03.

Middle Distance
Abdur-Rafia was blazing a trail again in the 400m run with a second place finish. Her time of 57.23 was less than a 10^th of a second from the winner. Other Racer finishes included Anna Curlin in 12^th place at 59.97 and D'Myia Thornton in 14^th place at 1:00.1 and Jocelyn Payne in 16^th place at 1:00.7

A winner already this season in the 800m run, Murray State's Tia Weston placed second at the SIU event with a time of 2:17.4. She was a little more than a second from the lead. Hilary McAdam had a time of 2:17.4 and placed third.

Distance
Rebekah Priddy turned in a ninth place showing in the mile run with a time of 5:10.

Meagan Smith was the Racers' top finisher in the 3000m run with a time of 10:13, while Ali Hester ran the event unattached and placed 10^th at 10:17.

Field Events
Jabreuna Brimlett was the winner of the long jump with a leap of 5.66 meters and Yasmine Homa placed 17^th after a leap of 4.94 meters.

Hope Tewes was fourth in the high jump with a leap of 1.61 meters and teammate Aubrey Main was fifth at 1.56 meters.

Jewel Wagner was the top Racer in the shot put with a spot in 12^th place at 12.49 meters. Christina Meinhardt was 17^th at 11.60 meters.

Wagner placed 19^th in the weight throw with a spot in 19^th place after a throw of 13.14 meters.

Relays
MSU's 4x400 meter relay team of Thornton, McAdam, Lawrence and Payne placed fourth with a time of 4:00.

Final Results
Southern Illinois, 140 points
Murray State, 86.6
Memphis , 61
Arkansas State, 34
SIU-Edwardsville, 26
Lipscomb, 20
Central Arkansas, 19.2
Tennessee-Martin, 19
Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 19
SE Missouri, 1616
Western Illinois, 10.2
Austin Peay, 6
Saint Louis, 3

Men's Results
Gavin Galanes was MSU's best finishers in the mile run with a 25^th place showing with a time of 4:30, while it was a 26^th place finish for Mark Ventura at 4:32. Austin Ackman had a time of 4:35 for a 31^st place finish. Vince Turner was 32^nd at 4:36 and Zan McCelland was 34^th at 4:38 and Zach Balleau was 35^th at 4:38.

MSU runners doubled up and competed in the 3000 meter run. Ventura had a time of 9:11, which was good for a 23^rd place showing. Vince Turner placed 25^th at 9:13 and Zach Balleau was 27^th at 9:19 and Tyler Bradley was 30^th at 9:42.