Track & Field Earns 12 Career Bests at Oliver Nikoloff Open

Saturday, April 1

Cincinnati, Ohio

11 am

Ball State University

Oliver Nikoloff Invitational

Dahl, Stewart and Timmons Pace Track & Field at Kentucky Invite

Track & Field Earns 12 Career Bests at Oliver Nikoloff Open

April 01, 2017 | Track & Field

Oliver Nikoloff Open Complete Results (PDF)

CINCINNATI, Ohio - - The Ball State track and field team logged 12 career best performances and 13 top 10 finishes Saturday at the Oliver Nikoloff Open hosted by Cincinnati at Gettler Stadium.

The Cardinals' best event on the day was the 4x400m relay, which saw sophomore Gabby Sims, freshman Amber Jones, freshman Bryeana Byrdsong and senior Danielle Dahl combine to post a first-place time of 3:51.51.

Individually, Ball State finished the day with three runner-up finishes, starting with freshman Brooke Talhelm in the 800m run. Talhelm's time of 2:13.79 in the event was a career-best effort and almost a second faster than everyone else in the field aside from the race winner.

Sophomore Jazmin Smith earned Ball State's second runner-up finish of the day with a time of 14.44 in the 100m hurdles. Rounding out Ball State's top individual performers was senior Jordan Timmons with a career-fast time of 11:40.23 to earn silver in the 3000m steeplechase.

Overall, the Ball State track & field team placed sixth among the 11 teams competing in the meet despite another limited list of entries. The Cardinals competed in just 11 of the 20 events on the day, scoring 61.5 points for its performance. Host Cincinnati won the meet with 243.5 points.

Next up for the Ball State track & field team is the 2017 Ball State Challenge which will be held April 14-15 at University Track in the Briner Sports Complex.

For the most up-to-date news on Ball State cross country and track & field, follow @BallStateSports, @BallStateTFXC and @CoachE_BSU.

Ball State Individual Results at Oliver Nikoloff Open

200m Dash
MAC Qualifying Standard: 24.29 | School Record: 22.29 by LaTasha Jenkins in 1999
4th - Amber Jones - 25.18*

400m Dash
MAC Qualifying Standard: 55.36 | School Record: 53.68 by Yvonne Ferguson in 2006
6th - Gabby Sims - 58.60
7th - Olivia Ashba - 58.60*

800m Run
MAC Qualifying Standard: 2:11.94 | School Record: 2:06.40 by Angie Stewart in 1997
2nd - Brooke Talhelm - 2:13.79*
4th - Danielle Dahl - 2:14.70
8th - Peyton Kneadler - 2:15.77*

1500m Run
MAC Qualifying Standard: 4:30.18 | School Record: 4:25.67 by Katie Nowak in 2002
30th - Emma Maddelein - 5:01.49*
32nd - Meliza Rodriguez - 5:13.73*

5000m Run
MAC Qualifying Standard: 16:56.24 | School Record: 16:15.29 by Katie Nowak in 2003
10th - Stephanie McElhaney - 17:55.59*
12th - Maritza Rodriguez - 18:01.57*
16th - Kitty Taylor - 18:13.30*

100m Hurdles
MAC Qualifying Standard: 14.10 | School Record: 13.18 by Amber Williams in 2007
2nd - Jazmin Smith - 14.44
8th - Anna-Kay West - 15.23

3000m Steeplechase
MAC Qualifying Standard: 10:56.96 | School Record: 10:34.05 by Katie Nowak in 2002
2nd - Jordan Timmons - 11:40.23*
4th - Emma Manchess - 12:10.90
5th - Ericka Rinehart - 12:18.92

4x400m Relay
School Record: 3:38.05 by Jada Phelps, Angka Morris, Patricia Soman and Linise Gordon in 2001
1st - Gabby Sims, Amber Jones, Bryeana Byrdsong, Danielle Dahl - 3:51.51

High Jump
MAC Qualifying Standard: 1.69m / 5'-6.5" | School Record: 1.84m / 6-0.5 by Bonita Harrington in 1984
8th - Megan Graves - 1.47m (4-9.75)*

Shot Put
MAC Qualifying Standard: 14.74m / 48'-4.5" | School Record: 14.68m / 48-2 by Gena Rusch in 1991
9th - Kelsey Walters - 12.45m (40-10.25)

Discus
MAC Qualifying Standard: 47.40m / 155'-6" | School Record: 47.82m / 156-11 by Christy Richart in 1995
8th - Adrienne Mayfield - 40.53m (133-0)*

* Denotes Career-Best Performance