PITTSBURG, Kan. — The No. 3 ranked Missouri Southern women’s track and field team picked up five event wins as the Lions competed at the 11th-annual David Suenram Gorillas Classic today in Pittsburg.
Emily Presley vaulted to the top spot in Division II in the pole vault as the junior hit an NCAA Automatic Qualifying mark of 14 feet. She is the only person in Division II to top the 14-foot mark this season and in the process, defeated two of the the top-three vaulters in Division II in Grand Valley State’s Ellanne Kimes and PSU’s Haven Lander. Samantha Petry picked up a provisional height of 12-04.50 and finished seventh, while Lauren Sutherland and Jordan Banker both had provisional marks of 12-00.50 to finish 10th and 11th. Elena Bisotto was 14th, while Megan Tramel was 16th.
Desirea Buerge had wins in the discus and the shot put, picking up an Automatic Qualifying Mark of 173-05 in the discus and an NCAA Provisional Qualifying mark of 50-08.25 in the shot put. Payton Roberts was fourth in the in the shot put with a provisional mark of 46-08.50 in the shot, while finishing sixth in the discus. Alexandra Roberts was 17th in the shot, while Kirsten Leisinger was ninth and Rodriguez 15th in the discus.
Wynter Nekola won the high jump in a height of 5-05, while Morgan Ash won the javelin with an NCAA Provisional Qualifying Mark of 145-01. Alexis Kuehl was second in the Javelin with a provisional mark of 145-00.
Kassidy Owens was fourth in the 100m with a time of 12.57, while Ojurere Shonekan placed 7th. Shonekan and Owens placed 8th and 9th in the 200m. Ashlynn Vanatter was 9th and Kelsey Evans placed 13th in the 400m, while Jana Hautala placed third in the 800m with a time of 2:20.80.
Elizabeth Adeoye was 6th in the 100m hurdles, while Claire Luallen (7th), Deiajuanne Watts (9th) and Miracle Grant (11th) all placed in the top-11 in the event. Morgan Smith placed third in the 400m hurdles in a time of 1:04.93, while Adeoye was fifth, Rachel Ray placed 7th, Watts was 10th and Grant placed 11th.
Shonekan was 8th in the long jump, while Grant placed 16th. Watts was fifth in the triple jump in a distance of 36-01.50, while Rodriguez placed 6th in the hammer.
Southern will be back in action next week, splitting action at Central Missouri, as well as the Kansas Relays and the Mt. Sac Relays.
