The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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May 25, 2012

Vengels sixth in heptathlon; PSU picks up two seventh-place finishes

From staff reports

PUEBLO, Colo. — Missouri Southern’s Lisa Vengels ranked sixth after Thursday’s four events in the heptathlon to highlight the Lions’ performances on the first day of the NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Vengels tied for second place in the high jump (5 feet, 7 3/4 inches), took eighth in the shot put (34-0 1/2) and was 12th in both the 100-meter hurdles (14.80 seconds) and 200 meters (26.16).

Vengels has a total of 3,084 points. Central Missouri’s Lindsay Lettow leads the event with 3,464.

“Lisa is about within 10 points of what she did in the conference meet,” Lions coach Patty Vavra said. “She had her personal best in the 200 today and was close to equaling her bests in the other events. She had a good, steady performance for the opening day.”

The Lions’ other two entries on Thursday did not survive the preliminaries in the 100 meters. Jeff Fraley qualified 11th — the top eight advance to the final — in 10.49 seconds, and Jasmin Hughes was 20th in the women’s 100 in 12.10.

“He still had a very fast time, but when you’re against the caliber, you have to run fast to make it to the finals,” Lions assistant Bryan Schiding said. “He had a sloppy start, stood up a little quicker than what he usually does. His top-end speed was just as fast as it usually is, but the first 20 meters is what really got him behind.”

By contrast, “Jasmin got out well but did not have a good finish through the race,” Vavra said.

Pittsburg State picked up two seventh-place finishes in field events — Keenan Soles in the men’s long jump (24-7 1/4) and Heidi Smith in the women’s hammer throw (184-2).

The Gorillas’ men’s 4x100 relay team of Soles, Jason Crow, Jordan Riffel and Brandon Neal qualified for the final with the sixth-best time of40.62 seconds.

In other field events, PSU’s Kiara Jones was 10th in the long jump (23-9 1/2) and John Talbert was 11th in the men’s hammer (194-6).

Today’s schedule, in addition to the last three events of the heptathlon, includes finals in the men’s and women’s discus, men’s high jump, women’s triple jump and pole vault and preliminaries in the 200 and 800.

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