March 10, 2007

HATTIESBURG, Miss. ---- The Samford track and field team turned out an outstanding performance Saturday in the Southern Miss Invitational hosted by the University of Southern Mississippi. Samford had 17 Bulldogs place in the top five of their events in the first race of the outdoor season.

Sophomore distance runner Katie Almand opened up the day with a first place finish in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase. Samford also took five of the top six spots in the men's steeplechase with Cameron Bean (9:38.16) taking second and Michael Hanson (9:44.89) placing third. Freshman Spencer Anderwald came in fourth, while Chas Keithan took fifth place.

Michael Schwartz, who ran his first race for Samford Saturday, came in sixth place in the men's 3000-meter steeplechase. He also took fifth place in the men's mile, running a time of 4:02.09. Freshman Blaise Carie (3:59.37) placed third in that same event, while Drew Anderwald (4:03.60) took eighth.

Junior Bulldog Katherine Herring won the women's mile with a time of 4:43.10.

Daphne Anderson and Lakeita Rox took the top two spots in the 100-meter hurdles. Anderson ran a time of 14.55, while Rox clocked in a 14.80.

Robyn DeBenedet captured second place in the 800-meter run, and Ashley Dance ran a time of 58.14 to finish fifth in the 400-meter dash.

Morgan Tyler and Ciara Floyd both took top ten spot in two events. Tyler placed second in the triple jump and third in the 400-meter hurdles, while Floyd placed sixth in the 100-meter hurdles and seventh in the long jump.

In other field events, Cameron Cardwell took fifth place in pole vault.

Ashley Dance, Kady Decker, Lakeita Rox, and Daphne Anderson led the women's 4x100-meter relay to sixth place at 48.36.

To close out the day, Britney Almaguer and Lauren Pilcher took first and second in the women's 5K.

Samford will take a week off before competing again to prepare for the Alabama Relays in Tuscaloosa, Ala. The event hosted by the University of Alabama will be held March 23-25.