2008 Southern Miss Invitational Results

March 15, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ---- The Samford track and field team posted several stand-out performances Saturday in its first outdoor meet of the season at the Southern Miss Invitational. Both the men and women finished third while great finishes by Bulldogs, young as well as veterans, got the Bulldogs off to a great start in the outdoor season.

In the women's 200-meter dash, Ashley Dance and Ashley Flowers took 12th and 13th places, running the event in 25.57 and 25.74, respectively. Dance also took sixth place (57.96) in the 400-meter dash while Flowers came in tenth in the same event.

Marissa Brokaw and Hillary Neal landed in the top five of the women's 800-meter run, Brokaw taking third (2:18.05) and Neal taking fifth (2:20.05). Elyse Rippe, Britney Almaguer and Jessica Van Ausdall also placed in the top 20 of that same event. Neal also took the top spot in the women's 1500-meter run, beating out veteran Bulldog Lauren Blankenship by just over five seconds. Neal's time was a new Samford freshman record. Almaguer took fifth in that event as well.

Ina Ables and Lauren Pilcher took seventh and eighth, respectively, in the women's 5000-meter run while Morgan Tyler finished in the top five in three events. Tyler took third in the 100-meter hurdles (14.78), second in the 400-meter hurdles (1:03.56) and fifth in the long jump (18'0.5"). Kady Decker also finished ninth in the 400-meter hurdles. Katie Almand finished first in the 3000-meter steeplechase, running the event in 12:29.90.

In the women's field events, Mary Barron took eighth place in the pole vault event with a vault of 9'6". Ciara Floyd and Morgan Read joined Tyler in the top ten of the long jump. Floyd took seventh place (17'58") while Read took ninth (16'6.8"). Jessica Lucas placed sixth in the javelin throw, with a distance of 112'11.5".

On the men's side, Michael Schwartz took tenth place in the 800-meter run (2:00.28) while Chas Keithan followed behind in 15th place. Scott Cope placed ninth in the 1500-meter run while Bo Brawner took fourth in the 5000-meter run (15:30.00) followed by Cameron Bean at seventh and Patrick Ollinger at ninth. Michael Smith took third in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.94 as well as fourth in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 52.89. Bean won the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:53.00, followed by Keithan in second with at time of 10:06.70.

Keithan also competed in the pole vault and placed seventh with a vault of 12'6". In other men's field events, Kyle Brown took ninth in the javelin (153'11") and 12th in the hammer throw (111'6").

The Bulldogs have a week off before heading south to Tuscaloosa for the annual Alabama Relay, March 26-29.