Women’s track and field prepare to accept their awards at their home meet April, 4.
The Racers came off a two-day, two-meet weekend at Western Kentucky and the University of Tennessee with a strong overall team performance and a personal win for one Racer.
Senior Brittany Bohn won the 3000-meter steeplechase at WKU Saturday, crushing her previous personal record in the event.
“I started out strong, went for my PR and demolished it,” Bohn said.
Bohn set a personal record in the previous meet with a time of 11 minutes 20.93 seconds and finished this meet with a time of 11 minutes 3.25 seconds.
This is Bohn’s seventh time running the event since her sophomore year and she now has the second-best time in the event at Murray State.
Saturday was the first time the Racers experienced a meet in fair weather. The past two meets were in rainy, windy conditions.
Head Coach Jenny Severns and Bohn said that rainy weather usually doesn’t have a big effect on the race, but when wind is added it makes it a little tougher because the race takes a lot of your energy.
Severns expressed how pleased she was with both meets and how she felt the team was well prepared for WKU.
Senior Tonia Pratt hit the 59 meter mark in the hammer throw with a throw of 59.24 meters, just a little shy of her personal record from last weekend.
Severns hopes to take the whole team next year to Tennessee’s meet next year.
“The UT meet was a really big meet,” Severns said. “Ladies running the 10K did well and so did the freshmen. It was a good meet for the team.”
Severns said she is proud of the progress from the last meet.
“It’s about getting good work and recovery getting runners fresh and prepared for conference,” Severns said.
Jacquelyn Thate and Heatherly Paschall set personal records in the 800m with respective finishes of 2:25.99 and 2:36.09.
Natalie Pattin set a new personal record in the 400m with a time of 59.90.
Sydney Potts threw the javelin 36.36 meters, while Marina Keller set a personal record with her throw of 26.14m.
Deja Rodgers set a personal record with a time of 25.50 in the 200m.
LeShea Shaw led the way in the 100m hurdles with her time of 14.87. Taylor McCammon and Jolyta Henderson set personal records when they completed the event in 15.03 and 15.59, respectively.
Sarah Bindel also set a personal record when she finished in 16.47.
During the 1500m, Heatherly Paschall set a personal record with a time of 5:07.98. Rebekah Priddy competed in the event for the first time and finished in 5:07.74, while Raeven Wilson finished in 5:06.71.
The 4x100m relay team which consisted of LaShea Shaw, Anna Curlin, Deja Rodgers and Taylor McCammon finished in 47.80, which ties the season’s best finish.
Ashley Conway finished her part in the heptathlon with a final score of 4590 which put her in eighth place. She finished with a personal record in the javelin with a distance of 33.66 meters (110’5”), while she had the second farthest distance in the long jump with a jump of 5.66 meters (18’7”). The final event to wrap up the heptathlon was the 800m, which she finished in 2:45.10
Vallery Korir ran in the 5000m race and ran a personal best 16:59, which secured her spot as second best time in Murray State history.
Leah Krause, who competed in the 10K before her time at Murray State, set a new personal record when she finished in 38:47.68 to finish in fourth. Meagan Smith, Abbie Oliver and Emily Flaherty all made their 10K debuts under the lights at the Tom Black Track Complex. Smith came in eighth when she finished the 10K in 39:02.60. Flaherty and Oliver finished one behind the other with respective times of 39:36.79 and 39:38.76.
Murray State will be at Austin Peay State’s Invitational Friday and Saturday.
Story by John Morris, Contributing writer