May 2, 2008

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. ---- The Samford track and field team sits in good position after the first day of events in the Ohio Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Bulldog men currently sit in fifth place while the women sit at seventh place in a tight race for the women's team crown.

"Seventh place doesn't sound that good but our women are only 11 points out of first place," Samford interim head coach Chad James said. "It's a tight race on the women's side and with 26 points, we are actually ahead of pace."

Katie Almand began things for the women Friday with a fourth place finish in the women's 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 12:05.19.

Morgan Tyler stood out for the Bulldog women as she took eighth place in the long jump (17'11.5") and broke her own school record in the preliminaries of the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:01.15. She had the fastest time in the preliminaries while qualifying for the finals and just missed the regional qualifying mark by three tenths of a second. Kady Decker also qualified for the finals in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:04.92.

Ashley Dance qualified for the finals in the 200-meter dash while also qualifying for the finals of the 400-meter dash along with Ashley Flowers. Hillary Neal will run in the finals of the 800-meter race Saturday as she had the fastest time in the preliminaries. Ciara Floyd also qualified for the finals in the 100-meter hurdles will taking fourth place in the long jump with a personal record of 18'10.75".

"That was the toughest and closest long jump competition I've ever been able to watch," said James. "Ciara (Floyd) just missed a school record by an inch."

Lauren Blankenship won the women's 10,000-meter race with a time of 36:17.15, earning All-OVC honors. Lauren Pilcher also came in fourth in the same competition with a personal best of 39:19.84.

On the men's side, Cameron Bean and Chas Keithan set new personal bests in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Bean earned all-conference honors with his second place finish of (9:37.26) while Keithan came in fifth with a time of 9:49.77. Michael Schwartz also finished eighth in the same competition with a time of 10:05.87.

Patrick Ollinger set a new personal best in the 10,000-meters, taking sixth with a time of 33:15.92. Bo Brawner followed right behind, taking eighth place in the 10,000-meters with atime of 33:39.58.

Kyle Brown earned All-OVC honors with a second place finish in the javelin (174'07").

Michael Smith qualified for the finals in the 110-meter hurdles and the 400-meter hurdles. His 110-meter hurdles time of 15.23 earned him fourth place in the preliminaries while his 400-meter hurdles time of 52.57 earned him first place in the preliminaries. Brian Post also qualified for the finals of the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.00.

The OVC Outdoor Track and Field Championships concludes Saturday morning starting at 11 a.m. at the Stuber Track Complex on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University.