April 2, 2011

Full Stats

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. – The University of Memphis track and field teams put on a strong showing at the SEMO Invite, Saturday, against competition from around the Missouri valley.

Memphis senior sprinter LaShundra Kershaw was a force for the women’s squad, winning the 200m dash with a 24.60 mark and finishing second in the 100m dash with a 11.91 mark.

Junior hurdler Tayanna Simpson flipped the script in the hurdles, winning the shorter hurdle event (100m) with a 14.09 mark and finishing as the runner-up in the 400m hurdle event with a 1:03.03 run.

Memphis freshman Jenny Johnston won the 800m run with a 2:21.86 mark, a Memphis outdoor best this season. Classmate Ellen Kildal joined her at the top of the podium with a 4:46.41 mark in the 1500m run.

In the 400m dash, freshman Ida Fillingsnes (59.82) and sophomore Holly Joiner (1:00.52) finished third and fourth, respectively. It marked the first time Memphis has competed in the 400m on the women’s side this season.

The talk of the field events was sophomore Kirsten Berding, who set a personal-best with a 1.74m (5’ 8.5”) height. That mark is the 28th-best of marks in the country, entering the weekend.

The throwers were also in attendance this weekend, with senior Marina Vojinovic (14.78m; 48’ 6”) and freshman Anna Bischof (14.30m; 46’ 11”) finishing third and fourth, respectively, in the shot put.

On the men’s side, senior Nick Harold continued to flex his muscles in the sprints; he won the 400m dash with a 48.51 mark; that’s currently third-best in C-USA.

As a group, the men’s runners were prolific, with senior Guy Hudson (1:53.30, 800m run), junior Robert Jackson (14.34, 110m hurdles) and freshman Brandon Williams (53.52, 400m hurdles) each winning individual titles. Williams’ mark was a personal-best.

In the field events, junior indoor All-American Karlis Pujats won his first pole vault of 2011 outdoor season with a 5.06m (16’ 7.25”) mark.

Freshman Darius Lynwood was runner-up in the high jump with a personal-best 2.00m (6’ 6.75”) leap, while over in the triple jump, junior Jerome Leslie had a sharp 15.36m (50’ 4.75”) mark to place him second in Conference USA.

With Southern Illinois’ JC Lambert and SEMO’s Brandon Colbert, two of the nation’s top throwers, in attendance at this meet, the Tigers were up against fierce competition and acquitted themselves nicely. Sophomore Savvas Arestis was third in the discus with a 50.99m (167’ 3”) toss. Sophomore Andrew Miller also performed well, finishing fourth in the shot put with a 15.61m (51’ 2.75”) throw.

The men’s squad had the top two finishers in the javelin, with sophomore Casey Carl (57.16m; 187’ 6”) winning the event; freshman Austin Crenshaw (55.80m; 183’ 1”) was runner-up.

The Tigers will be back in action, next week, at the Ole Miss Invite, a one-day meet in Oxford, Miss.