The Lion men and women track and field teams were in action during a busy Friday and Saturday, March 29 and 30.

On Friday, the teams participated in two meets as the distance runners competed at Washington University and the throwers competed at Oral Roberts. Both teams finished up action on Saturday at Oral Roberts.

At Washington University, Freshman Gidieon Kimutai led the way by winning the men’s 5k with an NCAA Provisional Qualifying time of 14:24.38. Five other Lions finished within the top 18 of the event.

In the women’s 5k, sophomore Ashlee Kuykendall led the way for the Lions, finishing 27^th with a time of 18:02.49.

In the first day of action at ORU, the Lions racked up three event wins: freshman Elizabeth Pomatto in the javelin, junior Travis Petersen in the hammer throw and senior Andrew Wells in the high jump.

Pomatto took home the javelin event title with an NCAA Provisional Qualifying Mark of 148-01. Fellow Lions Morgan Ash, Alexis Kuehl and Katelyn Mooney finished second, fourth and fifth in the javelin, respectively.

Petersen won the hammer throw with an NCAA Provisional Qualifying Mark of 194-02.

Wells won the high jump with a provisional mark of 6-09.75, while senior DeShaun Williams tied for second in the event with a height of 6-04.75.

In the second day of the ORU Invite, the women took home first place easily as freshman Elizabeth Adeoye won the 400m hurdles and junior Desirea Buerge won the shot put.

The women scored 120 points in the meet, easily beating out second-place Missouri State by 24 points.

Adeoye’s 400m hurdle win came with a time of 1:03.47, with senior Rachel Ray finishing fifth and freshman Miracle Grant finishing seventh in the event.

Buerge won the shot put with a distance of 15.13m, an NCAA Qualifying Mark, while also gaining another provisional mark in the discus with a distance of 48.54m. She finished second in the discus.

The Southern women also showed out in the pole vault, with four Lions finishing in the top-4 of the event. Senior Emily Presley finished second in the event, tying herself with the top height of 3.96m.

Samantha Petry, Lauren Sutherland and Elena Bisotto each finished with a provisional mark of 3.65m, finishing sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

Senior Morgan Smith finished third in the 100m hurdles with an NCAA Provisional Qualifying time of 14.03.

The Lion men finished in eighth place as a team by the end of the ORU Invite, with sophomore Elijah Smith finishing ninth in the discus and sophomore Adrian Broadus and junior Josh Norville finishing seventh and eighth in the long jump.

Distance coach Jamie Burnham stresses the importance of preparation for the conference meet.

“We are working to improve every week to be our best for the conference meet,” Burnham said.

Burnham is optimistic about the outdoor season, stating the first outdoor meet “went pretty well.”

Both the men and women track and field teams will be back in action next weekend as the squads travel to San Angelo, Texas. They will compete at Angelo State University on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.