January 24, 2012

Lady Tiger pole vaulters lead the way at Missouri Southern

With all three of its pole vaulters hitting national qualifying marks at the Missouri Southern Invite held Friday and Saturday in Joplin, MO, the Cowley College women’s track and field team posted some good results in its second meet of the season.

Freshman Niki Andrews and sophomore Kadie Peoples each placed seventh in the pole vault after clearing 9-feet-8 inches in the event. Freshman Caroline Strickland also hit the national qualifying mark of 9-2 ¼ and finished ninth.

Cowley’s distance medley relay team of Jessalyn Lanoy, Valerie Nielson, Kelly Roberts and Konnie Zuniga finished second in the event with a national qualifying time of 13:38.00.

Lacy Tipton, a freshman from Arkansas City, threw well in the weight throw and was close to hitting the national qualifying mark as she placed sixth with a toss of 44-6 ¼.

For the second meet out, Cowley head coach Mark Phillips thought there were quite a few positives.

“We are kind of a work in progress, but really I was pretty pleased with what the ladies did,” Phillips said.

Valerie Nielson was only a few seconds off the national qualifying time in the 800-meter run, while Maria Schmidt was closing in on the national qualifying times in the 3,000 and 5,000-meter runs.

The Lady Tigers will return to action Friday when they compete at the Kansas Jayhawk Invite in Lawrence.

“I would like to see some of those ladies that are close to national qualifying marks get those knocked out at KU,” Phillips said.

Results:

• 60-meter dash — Earriel Willis, 8.24, 11th.
• 200-meter dash — Willis, 28.43, 21st.
• 800-meter run — Valerie Nielson, 2:31.08, fifth; Katie Krepel, 2:34.90, 10th; Kelly Roberts, 2:38.01, 15th.
• Mile Run — Jessalyn Lanoy, 5:36.00, sixth; Konnie Zuniga, 5:39.08, eighth; Lindsay Johnson, 5:55.95, 14th.
• 3,000-meter run — Maria Schmidt, 11:34.01, seventh; Julia Stafford, 12:37.28, 15th.
• 5,000-meter run — Schmidt, 19:50.33, seventh; Kaitlyn Dispensa, 21:12.49, 13th; Stafford, 21:43.38, 15th.
• 60-meter hurdles — Niki Andrews, 10.73, 17th.
• Distance Medley Relay — Cowley “A” (Lanoy, Nielson, Roberts, Zuniga), 13:38.00, second, national qualifier.
• High jump — Morgan Brant, 4-11 ¾, eighth; Taylor Kean, 4-6, 21st.
• Pole vault — Niki Andrews, 9-8, seventh, national qualifier; Kadie Peoples, 9-8, seventh, national qualifier; Caroline Strickland, 9-2 ¼, ninth, national qualifier.
• Long jump — Andrews, 15-8 ¼, 14th; Kean, 14-6 ½, 18th.
• Triple jump — Kean, 32-4 ¼, eighth.
• Shot put — Kammie Mercer, 37-5, eighth.
• Weight throw — Lacy Tipton, 44-6 ¼, sixth; Mercer, 40-2 ¼, ninth.