Lions open season at Missouri Invite

Columbia, Mo. -- The Missouri Southern men's and women's indoor track and field teams opened the 2010 season today with a trip to the University of Missouri to compete in the Missouri Invite at the Hearnes Center.

The Southern women had two first-place finishes as senior Kimi Shank won the 3k with a time of 9:58.49, four seconds off of a Missouri Southern school record and easily breaking her best time from a year ago. Senior Ciara Lipsey won the pole vault with a provisional height of 11 feet, seven and three quarter inches.

Senior Channell Lloyd was third in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.15, while placing fourth in the long jump with a distance of 17 feet, five and a half inches. Sophomore Lisa Vengels was fourth in the high jump with a height of five feet, two and a half inches.

Sophomore Nicole Green led a contingent of throwers for the Lions that saw three place in the top ten in the shot put. Green was fifth with a distance of 41 feet, two and a half inches, while seniors Erin Steffens, Cortney Vie and Emilie Mieseler placed 7th, 10th and 12th, respectively. Mieseler placed fourth in the weight throw with a provisional distance of 54 feet, six inches, garnering the top distance of any division II athlete in the event. Vie was tenth in the event, while Green placed 12th.

The Lions will be back in action on January 22-23 as they play host to the MSSU/Radio Shack Invitational in the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center.