Joplin, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern women's track and field team picked up three All-MIAA performances and two event winners as the team placed third overall in the final day of the 2017 MIAA Indoor Track and Field Championships inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.
Emily Harris picked up a win in the mile, while
Emily Presley continued her dominance in the pole vault winning the event. Harris wins her fifth overall MIAA Title, third in the indoor mile, with titles as well in the outdoor 1,500 and indoor 3k to her credit. She finished the race in a time of 5:03.86.
Presley won the pole vault in an NCAA Automatic Qualifying height of 13-05.0. It is her sixth-straight meet with an AQ in the pole vault and is her first MIAA Title in the event.
Samantha Donnell and
Mylene Loridan both finished tenth in the pole vault with heights of 11-07.25.
Other All-MIAA performances included
Morgan Smith with a third-place finish in the 60m hurdles. Smith also finished fifth in the 200m with a provisional time of 25.41, while
Destiny Akannam was seventh in the event with a time of 25.54. Akannam was eighth in the finals of the 400m in a time of 58.30.
Kelsey Evans and
Rachel Ray placed 13th and 15th, respectively in the 600y run, while
Christian Provence (6th) and
Cynthia Torres (7th) earned points for the team in the 3k.
Sierra Wells,
Sierra Gray and Harris placed 13th, 15th and 16th, respectively in the event.
The 4x400m relay team of Smith, Akannam,
Kristen Koch and
Allie Heckemeyer placed seventh in a time of 4:01.44, while Heckemeyer was sixth in the long jump with
Tiffany Gilford placing 20th. In their first appearance with the track and field team this season
Desirea Buerge placed fourth in the shot put with a provisional distance of 45-04.50, while
Jenson Maydew was 15th.
All told, the Lions had five All-MIAA performances at this year's championships. A complete list is below.
The Lions will now wait to see what marks have qualified athletes for the Division II National Championships held in Birmingham, Ala. on March 10 and 11.
All-MIAA Performances
Allie Heckemeyer - 2nd Pentathlon, 3rd TJ
Emily Harris - Mile (Champion)
Emily Presley - Pole Vault (Champion)
Morgan Smith - 3rd 60m hurdles
