Jan. 26, 2007

Gladstein Invitational Day 1 Results
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The first day of competition at the Gladstein Invitational saw the Lady Tiger track team shatter a pair of Memphis records.

At just 17 years old, Tina Sherratt broke the Lady Tiger mile record by five seconds, finishing the race in 4:56.64 and earning a fourth place finish. It was the first ever sub-five minute mile turned in by a Lady Tiger runner.

Sophomore Emily Malinowski also took a top-10 finish in the mile with a time of 5:09.10, which improved her collegiate best by seven seconds. The Lady Tigers' other newcomer, Anneli Uys, finished the race in 5:11.92.

"I was really proud of the kids today," said Memphis head coach Kevin Robinson. "We thought that a lot of the new kids could step in and make an impact and they did."

While the newcomers were making a splash on the track, Lady Tiger veteran Gail Lee produced a monster throw in the women's shot put. Lee, a 2005 All-American, bested her PR and school record by more than two feet with a mark of 55-3. The distance, which was just three inches from an automatic NCAA Championship birth, all but ensures Lee her second NCAA Championship appearance.

"Gail was just phenomenal," said Robinson. "She is already at the elite level, so for her to break her PR by that much is impressive. That distance stands as the second longest throw in the country so far this season."

Junior Sivan Aballi also had an impressive performance in the shot, taking third place with a throw of 49-1.25. In the women's high jump, junior Chen Edri took home a third place finish with a leap of 5-4.

On the men's side, Steffen Nerdal lead the Tigers in the weight throw for a second straight meet, posting a distance of 54-5.75.

In the men's 400 meters Sam James posted a new personal indoor best with a time of 49.97. Middle distance runner Geoff Standen posted his new collegiate best in the mile with a time of 4:37.74.

Saturday should bring more success for the Tiger track teams as they will be competing in some of their top events, including the men's and women's pole vault, the men's shot put, the women's weight throw and the women's distance medley relay.

"I'm really looking forward to tomorrow," said Robinson. "We have a lot of our strongest events coming up so I'm expecting some more record performances."