MEN'S DISTANCE MEDLEY RELAY QUALIFIES FOR NCAA divISION II INDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

February 6, 2005

JOPLIN, MO...The Southwest Baptist University Track and Field teams tallied 3 school records this weekend at the Baymont Inn/Fazoli's Open held in Joplin at Missouri Southern State University. 

Corey McElhaney, Terry Jones, Andy Joggerst, and T. Jay Sanderson brought the baton home in 10:17.86 to win the men's 4000m distance medley relay.  That mark was a school record by 16 seconds and an NCAA provisional qualifying time, currently ranking them 13th in the nation in NCAA Division II.

Steven Cross accomplished his goal of erasing the school record of 42' 10" in the weight throw by heaving a 45' 0 1/4" toss on his first attempt.  That mark qualified him for the finals, where he placed 8th overall.

Jones cruised a 7.04 in the preliminaries of the 60m dash to qualify for the finals.  He went on to finish 5th overall in 7.06.  SBU cornerback Michael Pearl competed in the first 60m of his career, finishing in 7.33 seconds.

Seniors Austin Bunn and Tom Miner performed well in the 3000m run.  Bunn clocked 9:14.40 for 8th place, and Miner ran a personal best 9:22.81 for 11th overall.

Nate Wilson continued to improve in the men's long jump, leaping 20' 10 ¾ " on his first attempt.  He placed 19th overall in the competition.

In the men's 400m dash, Adam Peery improved his indoor personal best to 55.27. Zach Porter, a freshman strong safety on the football team, ran his first race of the year in 55.48.

Porter, Wilson, and Peery finished out the day by running the 200m dash.  Porter narrowly edged out Wilson, 23.91 to 23.93.  They placed 26th and 27th, respectively.  Peery was clocked in 25.57.

On the women's side, the distance medley relay quartet of Amy Broadhurst, Lisa Hicks, Alyssa Maggart, and Christine Showler fell just shy in their attempt to qualify for the national meet.  Their time of 12:51.39 did however establish the school record in that event and placed them 5th overall.

In the 3000m, Jenni Doke returned to the track for the first time in two years and ran 11:33.61 for 10th place overall.  Freshman Kristen Dickerson ran her first ever indoor race in 12:14.56, which was good for 14th.  Erika Anderson crossed the finish line in 13:31.09.

Kristen Blinzler improved her 400m time by two seconds from last weekend, clocking 1:05.61. Also running their debut indoor races were Lindsey Christie and Erika Lane.  They finished in 1:11.27  and 1:16.21, respectively.

Blinzler had a busy day, also running the 60m dash and the 200m.  She finished the 60m in 8.71, and finished the day with a 28.74 in the 200m.  She was joined in the 200m by Christie and Lane.  Christie posted a 30.50 and Lane 32.78.

The team will have a busy upcoming weekend.  The women will compete Thursday at the Central Missouri State Mule Relays.  The men will compete Friday at the same venue, and possibly Saturday in the Tyson Invitational at the University of Arkansas.