Track & Field Earns 12 Top 10s in Saturday Action

HATTIESBURG, Miss. / HILLSDALE, Mich. - - Senior hurdler Kassidy Swenson locked her place into the upcoming Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships with an automatic qualifying mark in the 400m hurdles to lead the Ball State track & field team in its final scheduled competitions of the 2017 regular season.

With the squad split between the Southern Miss Open (Hattiesburg, Miss.) and the Hillsdale College "GINA" Relays (Hillsdale, Mich.), it was the southern squad which provided the bulk of the Cardinals' top performances with five career best efforts, an event victory and seven top 10 performances.

One of the best times of the day came from Swenson, who became the third Ball State student-athlete to earn a MAC Outdoor Championship automatic qualifying mark with a third-place time of 1:01.81 in the 400m hurdles.

Sophomore high jumper Regan Lewis picked up Ball State's lone event victory over the two meets, taking top billing in the high jump at the Southern Miss Open by successfully clearing 1.70m (5'-7"). The next-closest competitor managed to clear 1.65m (5'-5").

The Southern Miss Open also saw sophomore Peyton Stewart place second in the 100m dash with a career-best clocking of 11.69, 0.05 better than her MAC auto mark set earlier in the season.

Freshman Bryeana Byrdsong also had a pair of strong performances in Hattiesburg, placing seventh in both the 100m dash and 200m dash with career-best times of 11.94 and 24.55, respectively.

Junior Anna-Kay West also clocked a pair of career-best efforts at the Southern Miss Open with a sixth-place finish in the 100m hurdles (14.39) and an 11th-place showing in the 100m dash (12.00).

On the third and final day of the Hillsdale College "GINA" Relays, the Cardinals notched four more career-best efforts, to go along with five top 10 performances.

Senior Olivia Ashba led the northern group with a third-place time of 1:02.77 in the 400m hurdles. The Cardinals also received fourth-place efforts from sophomore Jazmin Smith in the 100m hurdles (14.28) and junior Gabby Sims in the 400m dash (57.30).

Next up for the Ball State track & field team will be the 2017 MAC Outdoor Championships which will be held May 11-13 at Western Michigan's Kanley Track & Field Complex.

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

Saturday's Individual Results at Southern Miss Open
100m Dash
   MAC Qualifying Standard: 11.86 | School Record: 11.08 (c) by LaTasha Jenkins in 1999
2nd - Peyton Stewart - 11.69*
7th - Bryeana Byrdsong - 11.94*
11th - Anna-Kay West - 12.00*

200m Dash
MAC Qualifying Standard: 24.29 | School Record: 22.29 by LaTasha Jenkins in 1999
7th - Bryeana Byrdsong - 24.55*
10th - Peyton Stewart - 24.84

100m Hurdles
MAC Qualifying Standard: 14.10 | School Record: 13.18 by Amber Williams in 2007
6th - Anna-Kay West - 14.39*

400m Hurdles
MAC Qualifying Standard: 1:01.89 | School Record: 57.82 by Linise Gordon in 2000
3rd - Kassidy Swenson - 1:01.81 - MAC Auto Mark

High Jump
MAC Qualifying Standard: 1.69m / 5'-6.5" | School Record: 1.84m / 6-0.5 by Bonita Harrington in 1984
1st - Regan Lewis - 1.70m (5-7)

Saturday's Individual Results at "GINA" Relays
1500m Run
MAC Qualifying Standard: 4:30.18 | School Record: 4:25.67 by Katie Nowak in 2002
6th - Peyton Kneadler - 4:42.56*
20th - Hannah Cummings - 4:56.11*

100m Hurdles
MAC Qualifying Standard: 14.10 | School Record: 13.18 by Amber Williams in 2007
4th - Jazmin Smith - 14.28

400m Dash
MAC Qualifying Standard: 55.36 | School Record: 53.68 by Yvonne Ferguson in 2006
4th - Gabby Sims - 57.30*

800m Run
MAC Qualifying Standard: 2:11.94 | School Record: 2:06.40 by Angie Stewart in 1997
13th - Emily Tromp - 2:14.30*
15th - Danielle Dahl - 2:15.42

400m Hurdles
MAC Qualifying Standard: 1:01.89 | School Record: 57.82 by Linise Gordon in 2000
3rd - Olivia Ashba - 1:02.77

Discus
MAC Qualifying Standard: 47.40m / 155'-6" | School Record: 47.82m / 156-11 by Christy Richart in 1995
5th - Adrienne Mayfield - 41.09m (134-10)

* denotes career-best performance
- BallStateSports.com –

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Olivia Ashba

Bryeana Byrdsong

Hannah Cummings

Danielle Dahl

Peyton Kneadler

Regan Lewis

Adrienne Mayfield

Gabby Sims

Jazmin Smith

Peyton Stewart

Kassidy Swenson

Emily Tromp

Anna-Kay West