RESULTS

CLINTON, Mississippi – The Lee University women's track & field team collected nine event wins and eight second-place finishes to claim its fifth consecutive Gulf South Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship at the Mississippi College Track Complex this past Thursday through Saturday.

The Lady Flames collected 256.5 points to run away from the competition. Alabama Huntsville was second with 139 points and Mississippi College was third with 125.5 points.

Lee also gathered three of the five superlative awards. Carissa Hall was named the Most Outstanding Overall Performer after posting two event wins and finishing second in another. Toni Moore earned Most Outstanding Track Performer and Deborah Rubin was the Most Outstanding Field Performer.

Hall recorded Lee University and GSC Championships Records in winning the 400-Meter Dash. Her time of 54.94 was 1.40 seconds faster than second place. Ryan placed fourth (57.75) and Mikayla Beeler was eighth (59.46).

Hall grabbed another event championship with a Lee and GSC Championships Record of 6.18 meters in the Long Jump. Theron jumped 5.46 meters for eighth. Hall added a second-place finish after covering 12.11 meters in the Triple Jump.

Ritter led five Lady Flames into the top six of the 1500-Meter Run. She completed the race at 4:26.97 to set a GSC Championships Record. Aria Hawkins was second (4:28.81) and Moore placed third (4:31.87). Hare was fifth (4:37.33) and Liza Kellerman finished sixth (4:41.37).

Lee added 24 more points to the sum in the 5000-Meter Run. Ritter covered the distance in 17:40.28 for another event title. Oliva McLain finished third with a time of 17:50.38, while Danielle Horter was fourth (18:03.02) and Grace Adams placed sixth (18:21.10). Kaitlyn Sesler's time of 19:10.94 put her in 12^th.

Rubin earned event championships in the Discus Throw and the Hammer Throw. She launched the discus 39.91 meters and the hammer 48.71 meters. Rubin's mark of 12.87 meters placed her third in the Shot Put. Austyn Durham was 10^th in the Discus Throw with a toss of 32.77 meters and she placed 11^th after throwing the hammer 37.31 meters.

Hawkins held off Jazmin Hernandez of Mississippi College to win the 800-Meter Run with a GSC Championships Record of 2:11.83. Kellerman was third (2:13.29) and Moore was fourth (2:16.45). Hare crossed the finish line at 2:18.18 for seventh.

Moore, Ashlyn Iliff and Elizabeth Beckham claimed the top three spots of the 3000-Meter Steeplechase. Moore crossed the finish line at 10:48.00. Iliff was second at 11:16.37 and Beckham (11:17.99) placed third.

Hannah Wright set a Lee Record in the preliminary round of the 100-Meter Hurdles with a qualifying time of 14.41 seconds. In the final, she finished second after knocking 0.03 seconds off the short-lived record with a time of 14.38. Liezl Theron was fourth (15.11) and Madlyn Mayo finished 10^th (17.92) in the prelims. Wright added a fourth-place finish with a time of 1:07.66 in the 400-Meter Hurdles. Mayo finished sixth after stopping the clock at 1:11.00.

McLain (39:40.74) and Horter (39:42.80) were second and third, respectively, in the 10000-Meter Run. Elizabeth Heckman was seventh (40:00.67) and Katie Krueger was eighth (40:07.94).

Kristen Blevins won the 100-Meter Dash by 0.14 seconds with a top time of 11.73 seconds. She recorded the second-fastest time in the preliminary round at 11.80. Blevins also had the top time in the 200-Meter Dash prelims at 23.97 seconds, but she did not run in the final. Hall qualified for the 200 final with a time of 24.50 and placed fourth (24.65) in the final. Hannah Wright (25.08) and Janay Ryan (25.25) did not advance out of the preliminaries.

The 4x100-Meter Relay team of Wright, Ryan, Hall and Blevins finished third with a Lee Record time of 46.05. The foursome of Moore, Kellerman, Hare and Hawkins placed fifth in the 4x400-Meter Relay.

Theron finished second in the High Jump with a height of 1.63 meters. Devon Jackett was close behind in third with a successful jump of 1.53 metets. Brooke Long placed eighth and Sydney White was ninth with marks of 1.43 meters.

Long, Durham and White participated in the Javelin Throw. Long was second with a mark of 36.87 meters. Durham stuck the javelin at 33.95 meters (fourth) and White's throw of 30.38 meters was 11^th-best. White finished in the top three of six events to place second in the Heptathlon with 3949 points.

Student-athletes who finished first and second in their events were named First and Second Team All-GSC. Hall, Ritter and Rubin led the Lady Flames with two First Team honors each. Moore, Blevins and Hawkins tallied one mention each as First Team All-GSC. Hall and Hawkins added one Second Team nod a piece. White, Iliff, McLain, Wright, Theron and Long were Second Team All-GSC in one event each.

Up next for Lee will be the Lee University Last Chance meet this Saturday at the Ray Conn Sports Complex.