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Five Lions reach qualifying
standards at Arkansas FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- Five members of the Missouri Southern track & field team reached NCAA Division II indoor national qualifying standards on Friday (Jan. 13) in the Arkansas Invitational at the Randal Tyson Track Complex. Among the national qualifying marks was an NCAA-II automatic qualifying standard posted by senior Matt Campbell (Worthington, Ind.) in the pole vault. Campbell, last year's NCAA-II outdoor national champion in the event, cleared 17 feet, 0.75 inches for second place in the Arkansas meet. Two other MSSU vaulters reached NCAA-II provisional marks in the meet. Senior Kyle Rutledge (Joplin, Mo.) topped 16-6.75 for third place. Sophomore Russell Ellis (Caddo Gap, Ark.) vaulted 15-7 for eighth place. The NCAA-II indoor automatic standard is 16-8.75, while the provisional is 15-5.50. On the women's side, the Lions also had good success in the field events. Senior Iashia Castle (Kansas City, Mo.) finished fifth in the triple jump and earned a provisional with her fifth-place leap of 37-6.75. The Division II provisional standard is 37-5.0. One of the most impressive performances of the day came from sophomore Jessica Selby (Galena, Mo.), who bettered her school shot put record, set at last year's national championships, with a throw of 46-9.50. That throw in Arkansas, good for fifth place, was 3.5 inches further than Selby's All-America and fourth-place mark last year in Boston. It was also three feet, 2.75 inches better than the Division II provisional standard of 43-5.75. The Lions head back to Arkansas next weekend for
the Razorback Invitational. |