From staff reports
sports@joplinglobe.com
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Strong performances Saturday led the Missouri Southern women and the Pittsburg State men to top-10 finishes in the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Southern’s women will return home today with nine All-Americans and a tenth-place finish in the national meet at the University of New Mexico.
Pittsburg State’s men, with senior Jeremy Jackson winning the 60-meter hurdles, placed sixth with 31 points. Brian Allen, a senior from Joplin, was an All-American performer for the second straight day, placing third in the shot put.
Missouri Southern tied for 14th place in the men’s division with 10 points.
“Our 10 young ladies came to this championship realizing that all of them can be All-Americans and they took a ‘Let’s see if we can get that done’ attitude,” said Patty Vavra, Southern women’s coach.
“We made a lot of noise at this championship as far as real, actual noise. They got behind each other and were greatly supportive of one another. I think they all fed off that energy.”
Seniors Channell Lloyd and Emilie Mieseler were fifth in the triple jump and weight throw, respectively, and senior Kimi Shank was sixth in the 5,000-meter run.
Senior Brennan Benkert had the lone points for the Southern men on Saturday with a seventh-place finish in the mile.
Jackson won the hurdles in 7.83 seconds — nipping Andrew McDowell of Abilene Christian by 0.02 seconds — to highlight the PSU effort.
Allen, who placed fifth in the weight event on Friday, threw the shot put 60 feet, 1 3/4 inches.
Kiara Jones, a junior from Pittsburg, was second in the triple jump at 51-8 1/2.
The Gorillas’ Heidi Smith was sixth in the shot put and Gretchen Clark was eighth in the high jump.
Southern’s Lloyd jumped past the 40-foot barrier for the first time to conclude the Lions’ effort. Her best jump was 40-5 1/4.
“Nicole (Green) had an unbelievable series of throws,” said Vavra. “Her best throw would have been second in a nation in last year’s meet.”
Added Tom Rutledge, Southern men’s coach who works with the throwers: “Nicole set a personal best by a foot and a half. It was great competition. ... There were so many MIAA throwers here, it was like a conference meet.”
Shank fell victim to a tactical race in the 5,000.
“It looked like there were times where she really had to dig deep to stay in the race,” Vavra said. “I think the altitude had an effect. Kimi’s typical race tactic is to run a steady pace and it’s always a little more difficult to determine how to run your race when it’s not your style.”
Benkert led early in the mile, but was passed by a stream of Adams State runners. Adams State finished 1-2-3-4-5 in the event, using the 33 points as a springboard to a national championship.
“Brennan had an extraordinary meet,” Rutledge said of his senior, who anchored the Lions to a runnerup finish in the distance medley relay on Friday night. “He ran three miles (including Friday’s qualifying race) in two days against great competition.”
The Lions return home to begin preparation for the outdoor season, with opening meets scheduled the weekend of March 26-27.
