Ball State University Athletics
Ball State University
Billy Hayes Invitational (Outdoor)
Outdoor Track & Field Posts Five Top Fives At IU
May 09, 2009 | Track & Field
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - - Despite some rough weather at the start of the event, the Ball State women's outdoor track and field team posted five top five finishes at Friday's Billy Hayes Invitational hosted by Indiana.
Amber Williams turned in BSU's top performance on the track, clocking in with a second-place time of 12.03 in the 100m dash. Janae Taylor was close behind, finishing the 100m course in 12.29 to place fourth.
Taylor also collected an eighth-place effort of 25.38 in the 200m dash, while running the first leg of BSU's fourth-place 4x100m relay team which posted a time of 47.81. She was joined on the squad by Brandi Robinson, Christina Whitt and Williams.
Rounding out BSU's competitors on the track were Jenna Schmitmeyer in the 400m hurdles (4th; 1:02.50) and Christine Talhelm in the 800m run (14th; 2:16.72).
In field events, Thekla Lorenz was Ball State's top performer, turning in a leap of 5.50m in the long jump to place second.
BSU had two student-athletes place in the top seven in the high jump, as Jessica Genovese and Ebony James placed sixth (1.60m) and seventh (1.55m), respectively.
Megan Cherry placed eighth in the triple jump (10.19m), while Lauren McNichols finished 10th in the pole vault (3.40m). The hammer throw rounded out the field events, with Tyra Schantz placing 16th (44.75m), Jordan Puckett earning 21st (41.45m) and Lauren Cleaver taking 24th (39.39m).
The Cardinals will now turn their attention to the 2009 Mid-American Conference Championships, which run from May 14-16 at Akron, Ohio.
MEET PREVIEW
MUNCIE, Ind. - - In its final tune up before the MAC Championships (May 14-16), the Ball State outdoor track & field team heads to Bloomington, Ind., for Friday's Billy Hayes Invitational. The meet, which is hosted by Indiana, gets underway with both track and field events starting at 3 p.m.
Ball State fans can follow the action with live stats courtesy of iuhoosiers.com - CLICK HERE FOR LIVE RESULTS
Heading into the meet, fifth-year senior Amber Williams (Fort Wayne, Ind./Concordia Lutheran H.S.) has already turned in a pair of NCAA provisional qualifying marks, as she paces the Mid-American Conference in the 100m dash (11.73) and ranks second among all league runners in the 100m hurdles (13.84).
Freshman Janae Taylor (Richmond, Ind./Richmond H.S.) owns the third-fastest league time in the 200m dash (24.52), while ranking fourth in the 100m dash (11.92).
In the 400m hurdles, junior Katie Johnson (Evansville, Ind./Harrison H.S.) ranks fifth in the MAC with an effort of 1:01.82. She is also fourth in the 100m hurdles at 13.93, .01 of a second shy of the NCAA provisional qualifying time.
In distance events, junior Ali Bishel (Chesterton, Ind. /Chesterton H.S.) ranks second in the conference in the 10,000m run (25:51.83), while earning the No. 7 slot in the 5,000m run (17:18.15). Both times are closing in on NCAA provisional qualifying marks.
The Cardinals also boast the top 4x100 relay time in the league, with its four runners earning a clocking of 46.18 at the Miami Invitational.
Sophomore Thekla Lorenz (Hamburg, Germany) is the only BSU student-athlete ranked in the top five in the league in a field event, falling just .01m shy of an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the long jump with a distance of 5.99m.
However, junior Tyra Schantz (Bloomfield, Ind./White River Valley) does hold seventh in the hammer throw with a toss of 53.76m, which is only .39m shy of the NCAA provisional qualifying mark.
Rounding out BSU's top field event participants is senior Lauren McNichols (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) who ranks seventh in the MAC in the pole vault with a height of 3.60m.
Players Mentioned
