From staff reports

sports@joplinglobe.com

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Missouri Southern athletes took advantage of a situation they rarely see at home — virtually no wind — to ring up impressive early outdoor track and field marks Saturday at the Florida State Snowbird Invitational.

“They’ve turned what could be a vacation into a pretty competitive situation,” said Patty Vavra, Southern women’s coach. “It was an opportunity to compete in a great setting early in the year and we’re walking out of here with two automatics and three provisionals.”

Senior Jessica Selby-Tallman and sophomore Kimi Shank are automatic qualifiers for the NCAA Division II national championships after their weekend performances in the shot put and 5,000-meter run, respectively.

Selby-Tallman (hammer throw), junior Kara Eckard (3,000 steeplechase) and sophomore Victoria Kline (5,000) had provisional qualifying marks.

Eckard and Selby-Tallman were Southern winners — against Division I competition — on Saturday.

Eckard destroyed the Southern school record in the steeplechase with a clocking of 11 minutes, 8.87 seconds. The old school record (11:24.55) was set by Jen Noelken in 2004.

“She ran a very strong race,” Vavra said. “She’s just so good over the steeple. She had a bad last water jump that probably cost her five seconds.

“Kara ran well, but she has better races in her.”

Selby-Tallman won the shot with a 49-51/2 throw, 41/2 inches shy of her own school record. Junior Jessica Self finished tenth in the event.

Vavra was also encouraged by the Lions’ showing in the 400 and 800.

“We actually had strong finishes in the 400 today, which means we’re probably ready for some speed,” she said, mentioning freshmen Carita Riuta and Kelly McKay and junior Stacy Borgard.

Senior Alison Walker ran 2:16.39 in the 800 and freshman Olga Bulgarova ran 2:20.74.

Shank and Kline added strong performances in the 1,500 the day after their 5K race, Vavra said.