April 14, 2012

Mississippi Open Results

OXFORD, Miss.- Memphis track and field squads took four titles on day one of the Mississippi Open at Ole Miss on Saturday. In their second trip to Oxford this season, the Tigers produced new personal-bests and matched a 34-year-old program record.

Sophomore Darius Lynwood took first place, set a new personal-best and tied a program-record in the men's high jump clearing the bar 2.18m. Lynwood's leap matched Larry Jenkins' program-record set in 1978. In the women's high jump, Kirsten Berding (1.70m) and Vivian Haynes (1.60m) took second and sixth place.

Distance runners Louisa Lingley and Fabian Fiege each took first in the 800m run. Lingley crossed the line at 2:11.75 to take the women's title, while teammate Nandia Taylor (2:15.82) placed fifth. Fiege checked in at 1:51.61 taking the men's title, as teammates Abdi Guleed (1:54.11) and James Maglasang (1:54.70) took fourth and sixth.

In the women's 3000m steeplechase freshman Erica Owen took second with a new personal-record of 11:32.53. Fellow distance runner Alisha Fitch took fifth in the women's 5000m run with a time of 19:20.75.

Tiger pole vaulters combined for three top 10 finishes on the day. Karlis Pujats (5.07m) and Austin Crenshaw (4.87m) placed third and fifth for the men, while freshman Kimi Jennings (3.35m) took eighth for the women.

In the shot put Memphis women took three top five spots. Sophomore Allison Hotz took the women's title with a throw of 14.06m. Teammates Britta Jaarats (13.97m) and Anna-Maria Bischof (13.86m) placed fourth and fifth.

Andrew Miller had the highest finish in the men's shot put placing third with a mark of 16.65m. Fellow throwers Matt Sipe (15.40m) and Tom Willcox (15.14m) took seventh and eighth.

Bischof took sixth in the women's javelin throw at a distance of 39.73m. For the men, Kyle Bynum (58.53m) and Casey Carl (56.84m) placed sixth and seventh.

Memphis throwers took home three more top ten finishes in the discus. Bischof (45.53m) took third for the women with a new personal-best, while Miller (46.18m) and Bynum (45.50m) landed at seventh and eighth respectively.

In the hammer throw, sophomore William Hubber placed fifth for the men with a throw of 54.09m. Jaarats took fifth for the women with a mark of 49.35m.

For the first time this outdoor season Memphis athletes competed in the women's heptathlon. Freshman Xenia Rahn sits at fourth after the first four events with 3,030 points. Teammates Laura Toldy (2,758 points) and Quaniqua Jones (2,306 points) trail Rahn in fifth and ninth place respectively. Rahn, Toldy and Jones will complete the heptathlon on day two of the meet scheduled for Sunday.

"Very good meet for us today and we're looking forward to completing the heptathlon tomorrow," said head coach Kevin Robinson. "A very nice jump today for Darius, we're very proud of his effort and what he has accomplished thus far. It's an exciting time for both programs, building confidence and improving performances going into Auburn."

Final heptathlon results from the Mississippi Open will be posted on GoTigersGo.com as they are made available.