Nine MVC women qualify for NCAA Track meet

[xmvcrunner]

The NCAA track meet is at Texas next weekend, why they choose to have it in extreme heat is beyond me, runs June 5-8th

Illinois State

Kameesha Smith punched her ticket to the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump. Smith cleared 1.75m (5-08.75) to finish in a three-way tie for 10th place and qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Sydney Laufenberg threw for a mark of 55.28m (181-04) in the discus throw to finish 11th in her third appearance at the NCAA West Prelims.

Indiana State

Erin Reese (2 events) unleashed a bomb of 64.33m (211-00) in the hammer throw on her first toss of the afternoon in Jacksonville. That throw would hold up well against the field, as she ended the day with a third-place finish at the East Preliminary Round to punch her first ever ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in June. The redshirt senior went on to compete the next day in the discus. Much like the hammer throw, Reese unleashed her qualifying toss on her first throw of the competition, recording a mark of 53.24m (174-08), giving her a ninth-place finish.

Cassaundra Roper recorded a final toss of 16.34m (53-07.50) for an eighth-place regional finish in the shot put. Her placement sends her to the NCAA Championships for the first time in her career.

Southern Illinois

The Saluki women's 4x100 relay team of Bri’Anna Branch, Genesis Ewell, Tyjuana Eason and Tredaja Harris set a new school record with a time of 44.27 to finish sixth overall Saturday. It marks the first time in program history that a Saluki women's 4x100 relay team has qualified for the national meet.

Bri’Anna Branch broke her own school record in the 200-meter dash to take second in her heat and fourth overall. The Chicago, Ill. native clocked the first sub-23 second 200m in school history at 22.74 to become the first Saluki women's sprinter since Denise Blackman in 1986 to qualify for the national meet in the 200m dash.

Shauniece O'Neal punched her ticket for the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships after finishing seventh in the hammer throw with a toss of 203'-6" (62.02m).