PALO ALTO, Calif. – Oklahoma State sophomore Mary Davies received an automatic bid to the NCAA Track and Field Championships in the 10,000-meter run Saturday at the Stanford Invitational at Cobb Track and Angell Field. OSU then had two other runners set regional qualifying times in their respected events.
Davies, a native of Whangarei, New Zealand, ran a personal best time of 33:20.03 to finish seventh. Davies' time was an 11 second improvement from her previous mark.
"Mary did a great job running because she was sick the beginning of the week, and to come in and run the way she did was impressive," Cowgirl head coach Rene Sepulveda said.
OSU claimed a seventh-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase from sophomore Eva Tomankova as she posted a regional qualifying time of 10:31.52.
The Cowgirls were then led behind the running of junior Eva Slavikova in the 5,000-meter run. Slavikova ran a regional qualifying time of 16:35.72 to finish seventh. Freshman Kim Blomkvist performed well in her first meet of the season, running a time of 17:20.21.
Freshmen Nina Andersson ran a personal best by six seconds in the 1,500-meters, finishing with a time of 4:29.73.
At the California Multi-Event Meet in Berkeley, Calif., freshman Baiba Blumbaha posted a 10th-place finish in the heptathlon, scoring 4,365 points.
OSU was led by its field event athletes at the Bobby Lane Arlington Invitational, hosted by the University of Texas-Arlington.
Sophomore Deleanor Kirkpatrick was the highlight for OSU, picking up a first-place finish in the hammer throw with a mark of 163'8" (49.89-meters).
In the triple jump, the Cowgirls were represented by three top ten finishers. Leading the pack, sophomore Moira Steyn (second-place) jumped 39'10.75" (12.16-meters). Senior Cody Birk (fourth-place) and freshman Mateja Posavec (seventh-place) finished with jumps of 39'3.75" (11.98-meters) and 38'2.25" (11.64-meters), respectively.
OSU then had quality performances in the long jump, led by Steyn who finished fourth with a jump of 19'1.5" (5.83-meters). Junior Zivile Siksnelyte competed in her first meet this season, jumping a distance of 18'0.5" (5.50-meters).
In the 100-meter dash, senior Melissa Ndubilo ran a time of 12.39 and junior Lauren McKee finished with a time of 12.50.
Junior Stephanie Lovely and sophomore Meghan Sullivan performed well in the 1,500-meter run. The duo finished with times of 5:05.34 and 5:06.04, respectively.
Freshman Kalea Tam continued to show improvement in the 400-meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 68.64.
OSU will continue outdoor action Thursday-Saturday, April 6-8, at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.