Cardinals Fly High at Gem City Invitational

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – Ball State track and field competed all day Saturday (Feb. 8) at Wittenburg University in Springfield, Ohio for the Gem City Invitational.

The distance team got the day started with the 5,000-meter run. Both, Jessica Velez and Kendyl Thrasher ran significant personal bests, finishing second and third overall. Velez improved her time by 11 seconds, finishing with a new best time of 18:18.94. Thrasher shaved almost a full minute off her 5k time, breaking 19 minutes with a new best time of 18:57.08.

Sophie Daugard won the 60-meter hurdles, tying her personal best time of 8.84.

There were two new personal bests in the 60-meter dash. Savannah Lake improved her time to 7.78 with a sixth-place finish and Jiah Davenport improved to 7.82, finishing ninth.

In the 3,000-meter run, Shelby Christman finished third overall, running a time of 10:04.00.

There were multiple top finishes and personal bests in the field events as well. Starting in the weight throw, Malena Higgins led the group, finishing fourth with a 15.22-meter mark.

Lindley Steele secured a fourth-place finish in the long jump, hitting a mark of 5.57 meters. Brenna Lehrke finished seventh with a new personal best mark of 5.41 meters.

The Cardinals had an impressive showing in the shot put, with Jenelle Rogers and Brooklyn Taylor taking the top two spots. Rogers first-place throw hit a mark of 14.73 meters and Taylor threw for 13.14 meters. Sydney Miller and Higgins were also in the top five, finishing fourth and fifth with marks of 12.90 meters and 12.84 meters respectively.

In one of the final events of the day, Emma Upp jumped a new triple jump personal best mark of 11.38 meters. Her efforts were good for second place.

Looking ahead to next weekend (Feb. 14-15), the Cardinals will send out groups to the GVSU Big Meet in Allendale, Michigan and the Windy City Invite in Chicago, Illinois. These meets will be Ball State's final time competing before the Mid-American Conference Indoor Championships which will be held in Ypsilanti, Michigan on Feb. 28-Mar. 1.

Ball State Individual Results at Gem City Invite:
Track Events
5k
2nd – Jessica Velez – 18:18.94*
3rd – Kendyl Thrasher – 18:57.08*

60m Hurdles
1st - Sophie Daugard – 8.84
Prelims
9th – Emma Upp – 9.58
12th – Makensie Kramer – 9.65

60m
6th - Savannah Lake – 7.78*
8th - Kylee Marshall – 7.84
Prelims
9th – Jiah Davenport – 7.82*

400m
13th – Paige Kirtz – 58.98

800m
9th – Leila Williams-Molitor – 2:20.20

200m
6th – Savannah Lake – 25.91
9th – Allison Valladay – 26.11
10th – Jiah Davenport – 26.17

3k
3rd – Shelby Christman – 10:04.00

4x400m Relay
6th – Lindley Steele, Paige Kirtz, Leila Williams-Molitor, Mikayla Mimnaugh – 4:01.59

Field Events
Weight Throw
4th – Malena Higgins – 15.22m
8th – Brooklyn Taylor – 13.86m
11th – Sydney Miller – 13.44m

Long Jump
4th – Lindley Steele – 5.57m
7th – Brenna Lehrke – 5.41m*

Shot Put
1st – Jenelle Rogers – 14.73m
2nd – Brooklyn Taylor – 13.14m
4th – Sydney Miller – 12.90m
5th – Malena Higgins – 12.85m

Triple Jump
2nd – Emma Upp – 11.38m*
3rd – Taylor Hickman – 10.73m

High Jump
T-6th – Lexi Hale – 1.55m

*Indicates personal best

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Players Mentioned

Shelby Christman

Sophie Daugard

Jiah Davenport

Lexi Hale

Taylor Hickman

Malena Higgins

Paige Kirtz

Makensie Kramer

Savannah Lake

Brenna Lehrke

Kylee Marshall

Sydney Miller

Mikayla Mimnaugh

Lindley Steele

Brooklyn Taylor

Kendyl Thrasher

Allison Valladay

Jessica Velez

Leila Williams-Molitor