Murray State University Athletics
Heil and Misukonis Share Pole Vault Gold to Highlight Day One of OVCs
5/9/2019 9:28:00 PM | Women's Track and Field
After day one of the OVC Outdoor Championships, the Murray State track and field sits in second place with 23 points, just a half point behind host Southeast Missouri.
"Today we looked for a jump start to the rest of the meet and we got that," said head coach Adam Kiesler. The heptathletes came out and executed in all four events today gave the entire team a huge boost. It is also not easy to do what you are supposed to do in the meet, but we did that in the 200m and hammer. Overall, everyone who competed did everything they could for the team and that's what we look for."
The pole vault was the big event of the day for the Racers as Brooke Misukonis and Emily Heil were declared co-champions after each clearing 3.64m (11' 11.25") on their first attempt. The pair become the first athletes in Murray State history to win gold in the pole vault. It is also the first time the OVC has had co-champions. For Heil, it was also a personal record.
Shannon Riley and Jessie Kinder also earned points for the Racers in the pole vault as they tied for seventh with a vault of 3.34m (10' 11.5").
"I am very excited for and proud of the pole vault group," added Kiesler. "To have all four entries score and to tie for first is amazing. They knew the vault was a big event in our hopes to win a championship and they more than exceeded expectations."
The other big event for the Racers on day one was the heptathlon with Aubrey Main (3,014 pts), Jessikha Ribeiro (2,948 pts), and Ashlyn Oren (2,899 pts) holding the top three spots after four events.
In the first event, the 100m hurdles, Oren (14.89) and Main (15.12) each set personal bests en route to finishing second and third. Ribeiro was not far behind in fourth place with a time of 15.14.
Oren and Main then proceeded to tie for first in the high jump with a height of 1.70m (5' 7") to take the lead after two events. Ribeiro jumped 1.67m (5' 5.75") to finish fourth in the event and move into third place overall.
In the shot put, Ribeiro set a personal record with a distance of 9.90m to finish fifth while Main finished sixth at 9.51m. Oren finished 11th (8.46m), good enough to stay in the top three after three events.
In the final event of the day, Main won the 200m (25.56) while Ribeiro finished third (26.15) and Oren finished sixth (26.44) to hold onto their top three spots going into day two.
Rachel Gootee also earned points for the Racers on day one as she finished seventh in the hammer throw with a distance of 48.47m. Ashton Crowe also set a personal best in the event with a throw of 39.34m.
In the 200m preliminaries, Tamdra Lawrence (24.22) and Norma Abdur-Rafia (24.73) both qualified for the finals Saturday afternoon. Rachel Hagans also set a personal record in the event with a time of 24.83.
In the 400m hurdles, Jocelyn Payne just missed out on qualifying for the finals as she finished 10th with a time of 1:04.73.
The 2019 OVC Championships will continue tomorrow beginning with the heptathlon at 9:30 a.m. Field events will begin at 2:30 p.m. while events on the track will start at 5 p.m.
Players Mentioned
