CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The Lee University women's track & field team has jumped out to a 36-point lead after the first day of the 2023 Gulf South Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Lady Flames accumulated 71 points with four of 21 scored events. Mississippi College is second with 35 points, while West Georgia (19) and Alabama Huntsville (13) are third and fourth, respectively.

The second day of the three-day event held at Lee's Ray Conn Sports Complex will begin at 11:15 a.m. EDT with the continuation of the heptathlon.

Carissa Hall and Jydia Faucette collected 16 points in the long jump. Hall won the event with a leap of 6.02 meters and Faucette was third with a jump of 5.78 meters.

The Lady Flames added another individual championship with Deborah Rubin's performance in the hammer throw. Rubin posted a GSC Championship throw of 53.97 meters to win the event by 1.58 meters. Nitia Howard finished seventh with a throw of 41.96 meters. Symphony Buxton was ninth with a mark of 41.41 meters and Samara Brinks placed 11^th with a toss of 38.58 meters.

Ashlyn Iliff and Elizabeth Beckham supplied 14 points to the team total in the 3000-meter steeplechase. Iliff finished second with a time of 11:13.93, two seconds behind Mississippi College's Bre Bell (11:11.70). Beckham completed the race at 11:16.88 to claim third.

Celine Ritter recorded the fourth individual title for Lee in the 10000-meter run. Ritter broke her own GSC Championships record of 35:34.63 on April 29, 2021, with a time of 34:55.05. Olivia McLain, Katie Krueger and Julia Halterman joined Ritter in claiming the top four finishing spots and recording 29 points in the event. McLain (37:09.77) was second, Krueger (38:02.34) finished third and Halterman (38:04.85) placed fourth. Phoebe Moran crossed the finish line at 39:22.67 for ninth.

Eve Hine and Kristen Blevins advanced to the final of the 200-meter dash following Thursday's preliminary round. Hine finished sixth with a time of 24.24 seconds and Blevins was seventh at 24.29. Hall was 11^th (24.67) and Jaila Whitaker placed 20^th (25.05).

Sydney White holds the lead in the heptathlon with four of the seven events being completed. White has collected 2,780 points and leads T'Oni Birden of West Georgia by 671 points with the long jump, javelin and 800-meter run remaining.