AMES, Iowa (2/11/11) - Five Arkansas State athletes finished in the top 12 places of the men's heptathlon, sophomore Julia Agawu set a school record in the women's weight throw, sophomore Samantha Salinas set an A-State record in the women's 5,000 meter run and the ASU women's distance medley relay team also set a new school record at the Iowa State Classic Friday afternoon.
Four of the five in the heptathlon notched personal-bests along the way, led by junior Taylor Short who finished sixth with 5,066 points. Sophomore Ethan Turpen finished eighth with 4,937 points, freshman William Oliver was 10th with 4,672 points, freshman Thomas Ligon was 11th with 4,503 points and freshman Andrew Corter finished 12th with 4,402 points.
Agawu won the non-seeded women's weight throw with a school-record throw 60-1.75, topping the previous record of 57-9.0 set by Isela Mendoza in 2003.
"I was proud of the multi-event athletes for setting personal-bests after a rough start yesterday," said ASU head coach Lon Badeaux. "They battled their way back to some quality scores."
"Julia had a few huge throws that puts her right up with the best in the Sun Belt Conference," added Badeaux. "And I am very proud of the distance medley relay team for breaking the school record by 21 seconds, as well as Sam Salinas for setting a new personal-best and school record in the 5K."
The team of senior Dawn L'Heureux, senior Allyson Perry, freshman Kelsey Bean and freshman Kristina Aubert finished fourth in the distance medley relay with a time of 11:53.17 to break the school record of 12:14.75 set last year. Salinas finished 11th in the non-seeded 5,000 meter run with a time of 18:02.72 to break the ASU record of 18:07.34 set by Maggie Kimani during the 2008 season.
"I feel like we had an outstanding day, with marks that will help us get ready for the Sun Belt Conference meet," said Badeaux. "Hopefully, tomorrow will be more of the same."
Arkansas State will host the SBC Indoor Championships Feb. 27-28 at the ASU Convocation Center.
The Iowa State Classic will wrap up Saturday, with running events beginning at 9:00 a.m. and field events starting at 10 a.m.
Other ASU athletes posting notable performances Friday were:
- Junior Kanesha Hicks finished fourth in the women's pentathlon, scoring 3,362 points, while freshman Jessica Otto finished 10th with 3,080 points.
- Freshman Shakira Nelvis finished eighth in the women's 200 meter dash with a time of 24.74.
- Senior Henry Ndichu finished 10th in the non-seeded men's 3,000 meter run with a time of 8:47.61
- Senior Jennifer Day finished fourth in the women's non-seeded pole vault with a jump of 11-1.75.
- Senior Erica Naeger finished sixth in the women's seeded pole vault with a personal-best jump of 12-7.50 and junior Stephanie Foreman finished eighth, also with a vault of 12-7.50.
For complete meet results, log on to: http://www.cyclones.com/fls/10700/track_live/index.htm?SPSID=94169&SPID=11526&DB_OEM_ID=10700
