Jon Dunning
Staff Writer
jdunning1@murraystate.edu
The Murray State track and field team placed first at the two-day Marshall Invitational in Huntington, West Virginia on Saturday, Feb. 8, beating out seven other teams.
The Marshall Invitational began on Friday, Feb. 7 with four events. Weight throw was the first event of the day, with senior Jewel Wagner finishing fourth with 7.13m. Senior Destiny Carey placed sixth with a distance of 14.85m and sophomore Ashton Crow threw 13.59m to finish in eleventh.
Pole vault was the second event of the day, with sophomore Brooke Misukonis placing third with a height of 3.67m, while sophomore Shannon Riley placed fifth with 3.37m and freshman Jenna Pauly took sixth with 3.22m.
Senior Amanda Parker finished sixth with a time of 18:50.08 in the 5000-meter run, while senior Katelyn Gilbert placed seventh with 19:17.90.
The Racer relay team placed second in the distance medley event with 12:35.77.
Murray State scored 34 points overall on the first day of the event, giving the Racers the lead going into Saturday.
The Racers had a strong showing Saturday, winning multiple events. Murray State took the top four spots of the 60-meters finals with redshirt sophomore Jumyia Denning finishing first with 7.70 seconds, freshman Kenia Seals taking second with 7.71 seconds, junior Antoinetta Avant placing third with 7.76 seconds and sophomore Rachel Hagans taking fourth with 7.77 seconds.
Freshman Meghan Fletcher gave Murray State its second top of the day when she placed first in high jump with 1.67m.
Murray State’s 4×400 relay team, which consisted of sophomore JaKayla McSwain, senior D’Myia Thornton, senior Hilary McAdam and senior Norma Abdur-Rafia, set a meet record, finishing in 3:46.27 and placing the Racers first in a third event for the day.
Murray State performed well in other events as well, earning numerous top placements.
The 200-meters event saw multiple Racers in leading spots, as Denning finished second with 24.83 seconds, Seals took third with 25.13 seconds and Hagans placed fifth with 25.63 seconds.
Murray State was well represented in the triple jump, with Avant finishing second with 11.70m, freshman Keyandra Mason winning fourth with 10.79m and sophomore Eleri Gelser following in fifth with 10.66m.
Redshirt senior Jabreuna Brimlett took second place in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.60 seconds. Sophomore Dotavia Howard placed seventh with 9.21 seconds.
McAdam won second in the 800-meters event with 2:16.01, while freshman Amirr Evans followed just two spots behind in fourth with 2:18.15 seconds.
Hagans took second in the long jump with 5.38m, junior Alison Woerner placed fourth with 5.13m and sophomore Ashly Oren took seventh with 4.91m.
In shot put, Carey earned second with a 13.93m and Wagner placed fourth with 12.64m.
Abdur-Rafia took third in the 400-meters event with 56.61 seconds, while Thornton placed fifth with 57.39 seconds and McSwain placed sixth with 57.43 seconds.
In the mile, sophomore Emma Creviston took tenth with 5:16.97, while sophomore Morgan Vosler and freshman Kristin Dent took eleventh and twelfth place with 5:20.98 and 5:21.40 respectively.
If there’s one thing Murray State Head Coach Adam Keisler took from the weekend’s event, it’s that he knows every member of his team is committed to winning.
“Overall, I think we did a good job,” Keisler said. “Competition wise, I think the kids all competed.”
While Keisler thinks there may still be room for improvement, following Murray State’s victory at the Marshall Invitational, Keisler is confident that his team can perform well heading into the rest of the season.
“We’re still trying to put the cherry on top of a few things in terms of each individual event, but I think if we kind of can keep the momentum going from Marshall into Birmingham I think there’ll be some things we’ll be happy with,” Keisler said.
The Murray State track and field team will look to carry over the success at the Marshall Invitational in their next meet, the Samford Open, on Friday, Feb. 14, and Saturday, Feb. 15, in Birmingham, Alabama.