Outdoor Track & Field Finishes Weekend Strong

Thursday, April 23

Hillsdale, Mich.

TBA

Ball State University

"GINA" Relays (Outdoor)

Track & Field Places Sixth At Bowling Green Challenge

April 25, 2009 | Track & Field

By: Ball State Athletics

"GINA" RELAY'S HOMEPAGE

STAN LYONS INVITATIONAL HOMEPAGE

HILLSDALE, Mich. & INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - - The Ball State women's outdoor track and field distance runners turned in a strong showing at this weekend's “GINA” Relays, with one individual posting an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. At the Stan Lyons Invitational, the Cardinals posted seven top five finishes, including a victory in the 4x100m relay.

In its first day of competition at the “GINA” relays, BSU junior distance specialist Ali Bishel (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) placed second among 18 runners in the 10,000m Run Invite Race with a time of 35:51.83. The time is currently the second-fastest in the MAC this season.

Sarah Kehe (Westville, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) also competed on Friday, posting a time of 11:48.38 in the 3,000m Steeplechase Invite Race to place 14^th.

In Saturday's action, Brittany Ade (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Dwenger H.S.) and Brandi Robinson (Chicago, Ill./Morgan Park H.S.) placed eighth (2:15.80) and 35^th (2:22.28), respectively, in the 800m run. The times were season-best efforts for the pair.

At the Stan Lyons Invitational, Janae Taylor (Richmond, Ind./Richmond H.S.) was BSU's top individual performer on the day, collecting second place finishes in the 100m (12.00) and 200m (24.52) dashes, while running the first leg of the winning 4x100m relay. Both times were season-best efforts for the freshman.

Katie Johnson (Evansville, Ind./Harrison H.S.) ran the second leg of the relay and also collected a third place effort in the 100m hurdles with a season-fast clocking of 13.93.

Ra'Jae Marable (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer H.S.), who ran the third leg of the relay, added a 15^th place finish in the 100m dash with a season-fast time of 12.96. Amber Williams (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran H.S.) rounded out the relay, as her lone event of the meet.

In the 400m dash, Christina Whitt (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran H.S.) crossed the finish line in 58.53 to place sixth, while Samantha Starcher (Elwood, Ind./Elwood H.S.) place 30^th (1:06.51). Both were season-fast times.

Christine Talhelm (Indianapolis, Ind./Franklin Central H.S.) was BSU's top runner in the 800m, scoring a seventh-place and season-fast time of 2:19.76. Ashley Johnson followed home in 33^rd with a season-best clocking of her own at 2:36.66.

Jenna Schmitmeyer (Celina, Ohio/Celina H.S.) added a third place showing in the 400m hurdles, earning a time of 1:04.50.

In the field events, Thekla Lorenz (Hamburg, Germany) was BSU's top performer, logging a second-place distance of 5.99m in the long jump, improving her previous season-best by .10m, while falling .01m shy of an NCAA provisional qualifying mark. Lindsay Bangert (Milwaukee, Wis./Homestead H.S.) followed in the long jump, earning 10^th with a leap of 5.36m.

In the high jump, Jessica Genovese (Dyer, Ind./Lake Central H.S.) tied for third with a season-high jump of 1.65m, while Lauren McNichols (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central H.S.) tied for 10^th at 1.55m.

In the triple jump, Jerrica Edmonds (Milwaukee, Wis./Franklin H.S.) was BSU's lone competitor, placing seventh with a season-long effort of 10.06m.

In the throws, Tyra Schantz (Bloomfield, Ind./White River Valley H.S.) placed 22^nd in the discus (35.58m) and 26^th in the hammer throw (42.75m), while Lauren Cleaver (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead H.S.) placed 27^th in the discus (34.85m) and 33^rd in the hammer throw (41.29m) and Jordan Puckett (Washington, Ind./Washington H.S.) took 24^th in the hammer throw (43.48m).

MEET PREVIEW:

MUNCIE, Ind. - - The Ball State outdoor track and field team will travel in two separate directions this weekend as the distance runners visit Hillsdale, Mich., for the "GINA" Relays (Friday & Saturday), while the rest of the squad heads to Indianapolis, Ind., for the Stan Lyons Invitational (Saturday).

Distance events for the women at the Gina Relays, hosted by Hillsdale College, begin at 3:15 p.m. Friday with the Women's Open 3,000m Steeplechase. Distance action in the meet continues Saturday, beginning with the 1,500m Run at 1:50 p.m.

The rest of the team will head to IUPUI's Micheal A. Carroll Track & Field Stadium for the Stan Lyons Invitational, hosted by Butler University. The meet will get underway at 11 a.m. with the hammer throw and the long jump.

The Cardinals boast eleven top ten Mid-American Conference marks, including fifth-year senior Amber Williams' (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran H.S.) top time in the 100m hurdles (13.84/NCAA regional qualifying mark), sophomore Thekla Lorenz's (Hamburg, Germany) conference-leading leap in the long jump (19-4) and the 4x100m relay squad's league-best clocking of 46.18 (Miami Invitational).

In the 200m dash, standout freshman Janae Taylor (Richmond, Ind./Richmond H.S.) ranks third in the MAC at a time of 24.62.

Recording fourth-best conference times are junior Ali Bishel (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) in the 5000m run (17:18.15) and the 4x400m relay team (3:52.36/Mike Poehlein Invitational).

Junior Katie Johnson (Evansville, Ind./Harrison H.S.) holds the fifth-best league times in both the 100m hurdles (14.08) and the 400m hurdles (1:01.79). Fellow junior Jenna Schmitmeyer (Celina, Ohio/Celina H.S.) is seventh in the 400m hurdles (1:03.25).