Friday, April 22
Columbus, OH
All Day
Ball State University
at
Jesse Owens Invitational
Photo by: Ball State Athletics
Ball State posts strong marks at Jesse Owens Invitational
April 23, 2022 | Track & Field
Cardinals continue strong improvement as conference meet nears
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ball State track and field continued its upward trajectory and posted strong performances across the board at the Jesse Owens Invitational over the weekend.
"Having an opportunity to run at the Jesse Owens Classic was awesome for our team," head coach Adrian Wheatley said. "We talk all the time about having opportunities to compete and prepare ourselves for the MAC Championships. I was really pleased with our group because, race after race, our kids were stepping up and having good performances.
"Overall, I'm extremely proud of our group and it shows that they're taking advantage of their opportunities and competing for their teammates."
Leading off the action Friday afternoon, Karlie Zumbro and Kennedy Batts finished fourth and sixth in the 400-meter hurdles. Zumbro's time of 1:00.11 was a personal best, while Batts was just 0.2 seconds away from her all-time best in just her second time in the event this outdoor season.
Karleigh Conner continued the strong start and led her heat from the sound of the gun in the 1,500-meter run, carrying that lead through a majority of the race. She finished third in her heat with a time of 4:36.99, just three seconds away from her lifetime best and her fastest time since her freshman season.
Jenna Oriani and Alexis Thigpen led the way in the 200-meter dash. Oriani broke the 25-second mark (24.85) for the second time her in career, while Thigpen set a personal best with a time of 25.22. In addition, Emma Potter broke the 26-second mark for the second time in her early career with a time of 25.94.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Batts, Oriani, Aaleiah Winford and Michelle Lehmann shaved a full second off their season best and crossed the line in a time of 46.12.
In the 400-meter dash, Thigpen broke the 56-second mark for the first time in her career and set an all-time best at 54.95, good for third place and the fifth-fastest outdoor time in the event in program history. Payton Barlow also ran a personal best with a time of 55.18 and sixth place.
Kayla Jones came within .14 of the Cardinals' program record in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:06.54, good for fourth overall. The mark stands as the second-fastest outdoor time in the program's record book and is a five-second improvement from her previous personal best a day after adding a personal best in the 200. Grace Dean (2:18.66) and Sarah Greer (2:20.29) also set season-best marks in the event, while Conner, coming off a strong 1,500-meter run the day before, ran the 800 in 2:14.98, less than seconds off her season best.
"Kayla listened to the race plan, executed the race plan and competed," Wheatley added. "When we talk about finding opportunities for our kids to succeed, it's about the little wins. The last several weeks, she's been stacking little wins together. It was good to see her accomplish that and then come back and anchor our mile-relay team, which took time off their season best."
Batts set a lifetime best in the 100-meter hurdles in the prelims with a time of 13.86. She followed that up in the finals and finished seventh, where she ran 13.87.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Emma Cunningham improved her time by seven seconds from her previous run at the We Fly Challenge, crossing the line in 12:28.19.
Charity Griffith set a personal best in the long jump at 5.96m, besting her previous mark of 5.95m, and finished second. Jenelle Rogers also set a personal best with a jump of 5.83m, good for third.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Thigpen, Zumbro, Barlow and Jones took four seconds off their top mark of the season and finished in the second-fastest time in program history with a time of 3:40.49.
Ball State wraps up its regular season at the WMU Jack Shaw Invitational, April 29-30, in Kalamazoo, Mich., the same site of the outdoor conference championships.
"Having an opportunity to run at the Jesse Owens Classic was awesome for our team," head coach Adrian Wheatley said. "We talk all the time about having opportunities to compete and prepare ourselves for the MAC Championships. I was really pleased with our group because, race after race, our kids were stepping up and having good performances.
"Overall, I'm extremely proud of our group and it shows that they're taking advantage of their opportunities and competing for their teammates."
Leading off the action Friday afternoon, Karlie Zumbro and Kennedy Batts finished fourth and sixth in the 400-meter hurdles. Zumbro's time of 1:00.11 was a personal best, while Batts was just 0.2 seconds away from her all-time best in just her second time in the event this outdoor season.
Karleigh Conner continued the strong start and led her heat from the sound of the gun in the 1,500-meter run, carrying that lead through a majority of the race. She finished third in her heat with a time of 4:36.99, just three seconds away from her lifetime best and her fastest time since her freshman season.
Jenna Oriani and Alexis Thigpen led the way in the 200-meter dash. Oriani broke the 25-second mark (24.85) for the second time her in career, while Thigpen set a personal best with a time of 25.22. In addition, Emma Potter broke the 26-second mark for the second time in her early career with a time of 25.94.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Batts, Oriani, Aaleiah Winford and Michelle Lehmann shaved a full second off their season best and crossed the line in a time of 46.12.
In the 400-meter dash, Thigpen broke the 56-second mark for the first time in her career and set an all-time best at 54.95, good for third place and the fifth-fastest outdoor time in the event in program history. Payton Barlow also ran a personal best with a time of 55.18 and sixth place.
Kayla Jones came within .14 of the Cardinals' program record in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:06.54, good for fourth overall. The mark stands as the second-fastest outdoor time in the program's record book and is a five-second improvement from her previous personal best a day after adding a personal best in the 200. Grace Dean (2:18.66) and Sarah Greer (2:20.29) also set season-best marks in the event, while Conner, coming off a strong 1,500-meter run the day before, ran the 800 in 2:14.98, less than seconds off her season best.
"Kayla listened to the race plan, executed the race plan and competed," Wheatley added. "When we talk about finding opportunities for our kids to succeed, it's about the little wins. The last several weeks, she's been stacking little wins together. It was good to see her accomplish that and then come back and anchor our mile-relay team, which took time off their season best."
Batts set a lifetime best in the 100-meter hurdles in the prelims with a time of 13.86. She followed that up in the finals and finished seventh, where she ran 13.87.
In the 3,000-meter steeplechase, Emma Cunningham improved her time by seven seconds from her previous run at the We Fly Challenge, crossing the line in 12:28.19.
Charity Griffith set a personal best in the long jump at 5.96m, besting her previous mark of 5.95m, and finished second. Jenelle Rogers also set a personal best with a jump of 5.83m, good for third.
The 4x400-meter relay team of Thigpen, Zumbro, Barlow and Jones took four seconds off their top mark of the season and finished in the second-fastest time in program history with a time of 3:40.49.
Ball State wraps up its regular season at the WMU Jack Shaw Invitational, April 29-30, in Kalamazoo, Mich., the same site of the outdoor conference championships.
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Players Mentioned
Sprints
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Sprints/Hurdles
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Distance
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Distance
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Distance
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Distance
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High Jump
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Sprints
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Sprints/Jumps
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Sprints
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Sprints
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Sprints/Hurdles
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Sprints
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Sprints
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Multis/Hurdles
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