FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 30, 2007

Southern athletes show well at MSSU Track and Field Invitational

Complete Results
Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's and women's track teams had 16 individual and team champions in total as they played host to the Missouri Southern Track and Field Festival in Fred G. Hughes Stadium tonight.

The women won 10 of the 16 titles with the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams both taking home first place. Erica Culver and Jessica Selby both set school records in the pole vault and the shot put, respectively. Culver broke Melissa Turner's 2003 record of 11 feet, six inches when she vaulted to a height of 12 feet, five and a quarter inches, provisionally qualifying for the NCAA Outdoor Meet. Selby broke her own school record by two feet in the shot put with a throw of 48 feet, six and three quarter inches.

Selby also won the hammer throw with a provisional of 178 feet, two inches, just a few feet off of the Southern record. Jessica Self and Courtney Vie were fourth and sixth in the hammer, while Emilie Meisler and Self were fourth and fifth in the shot put. Danielle Oliver and Jestine Hayes finished first and second in the triple jump, while Ysatis Williams won the 400 meter dash. Channell Lloyd won the long jump, while Kara Eckard and Kari Fritchie finished first and second in the 2000m steeplechase. Oliver and Ashley Birch finished first and second in the 100m dash.

Victoria Kline and Courtney Waltbillig were second and third in the 3000m, while Lloyd finished second in the 100m hurdles. Ashley Bunch was second in the 5000m, while Lloyd and Oliver were second and third in the 400m hurdles.

On the men's side Cory Reynolds won the high jump with a height of six feet, five and a half inches, while Jeremy McCadney won the long jump with a distance of 22 feet, three inches. Ryan McPeak and Andrew Wright finished first and second in the 400m dash, with McPeak coming just .43 of a second from breaking the school record in the event.

Russell Ellis provisionally qualified in the Pole Vault with a height of 16 feet, eight and three quarter inches. He was second only to his coach, Kyle Rutledge, who won the event with a height of 17 feet and three quarters of an inch. Jacob Williams, Seager Wilson and Corey Schumate finished third through fifth in the vault. Dustin Dixon won the 5000m, while Dustin Miller and Bret Musser were third and fourth in the event, as well. The men's mile relay sparkled, winning the event by four seconds with a time of 3:18.88.

Southern will be back in action April 7, traveling to Emporia State for the State Farm Inviational.