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LAWRENCE, Kan. – In her first meet action of the year, Jamilah James led the Bears at the Jayhawk Classic, earning an event title in the triple jump here Saturday afternoon.
The graduate student from Scarborough, Ontario topped her competitors at the meet hosted by the University of Kansas, jumping to a mark of 11.84 meters. James also earned a third-place finish in the long jump, recording a distance of 5.65 meters in her third attempt of the day. Teammate Tamia Rayford rounded out the top-five in the event, earning a mark of 5.52 meters to finish fifth.
“It was definitely another battle against the weather but we found a way to get quite a few positive results.” said head coach Jordan Fife. “It was nice to get Jamilah back out there and see her perform well in both jumps.”
In high jump, DaeLin Switzer matched her season-high 1.63 meters, to end the day tied for second place.
MSU continued its consistency in the javelin throw, turning out three top-10 performances. Rochelle Etienne threw a mark of 37.91 meters to finish eighth, while Jaide Rose (37.49) and Cheyenne White (37.22) finished in ninth and 10th place, respectively
In the 400-meter hurdles, Meghan Halstead improved on her season best to record a time of 1:05.62 and finish seventh. In the short hurdles, Rochelle Etienne also finished seventh (14.70).
Calandra Henry continued her strong start to the season, finishing in fourth place in the 100-meter dash (11.82). In the 200-meter, Henry raced a lifetime best, finishing third with a time of 24.43.
On the distance side of things, the Bears made strides in the 1,500-meter and 1,500-meter Invitational, with Sierra Williams leading the way in the latter. Williams earned a third-place finish, racing a personal-best time of 4:31.83, while Dar recorded a time of 4:50.27. Ashley Rolewicz and Claudrice McKoy also raced competitive times, finishing in succession in the 1,500-meter with times of 4:49.41 and 4:50.52. In the 5,000-meter run, Shelby Palmer raced a 17:42.24 to finish fifth while Natalie Clayton earned a top-10 finish, as well (18:54.08).
“Calandra had a really solid double today as well,” continued Fife. “Sierra raced tough in the 1,500-meter for a season best. We have limited time to get some areas straightened out but I’m confident we’ll have ourselves in position to be at our best for the conference meet in two weeks. We’ll use the meet at Arkansas to focus.”
The Bears wrap up their regular-season schedule next weekend, when they travel to the Arkansas Twilight in Fayetteville, Ark. on Friday, May 6.
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