As the final day of the 2014 MSSU Lion Invite inside the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center came to a close last weekend, both the men’s and women’s track teams finished with strong marks and some broken records.

For the Missouri Southern men’s team, sophomore pole vaulter Brady Melugin earned a personal best and a seat to nationals. Melugin earned second in the pole vault but hit a height of 16-09.25 to rank him third nationally in the event.

Senior Michael Juergens placed third with a provisional height of 16-05.25, which ranks him sixth nationally in the event.

Senior Raymond Woldvedt was sixth and freshman Zach Wuest finished 11th.

Junior Jeff Fraley improved his provisional time in the 60m dash and moved up the national list as he won the event with a time of 6.76.

With that time he is ranked third nationally in the event.

Junior Darion Boure finished the triple jump with a provisional

distance 47-09, placing him third, while senior Clark Tanksley finished sixth in a distance of 45-11.25. Tanksley also earned seventh in the high jump with a height of 6-06.

Junior Andrew Webster placed fourth in the mile with a time of 4:17.84, which is his lifetime best by two seconds, while Tyler Rush was seventh.

Head Coach Bryan Schiding said, “Last weekend’s meet went well and was an improvement from the week before, which is what we need to continue to do throughout the end of the season. Across the board our team did well with the exception of some jumpers that did very average.”

The Missouri Southern women’s 4x400m relay team set a school record on Friday of the meet, and the Lions had a good final day at the MSSU Invite.

The mile relay team of senior Jasmin Hughes, junior Kindra Emberton, junior Amber White, and junior Sydney Potts broke a nearly 10-year-old record set at the 2004 NCAA Championships.

The previous mark of 3:57.35 was bested when the team hit 3:57.02 to win the event.

Hughes said, “Being a part of the relay team to break the 4×400 record has been a goal of mine throughout my track career

here, and I’m glad we finally achieved it my last year. We have an awesome relay team that has the ability to do something great. We broke a record the first time the four of us ran together, so that can only mean we will keep improving.”

White went on to pick up a provisional in the 400m dash, winning the event in a time of 57.25, which ranks 11th nationally.

Emberton finished second in the 800m run with a provisional time of 2:16.48, while Potts was fifth and Dana Roberson placed

sixth.

Freshman Emily Harris placed second in the mile run.

She said, “It went pretty well for me personally since I had to take a few days off for a small IT band issue and came back and was able to run two different mile races in 5:10 and under, so I was happy with that.”

Senior Kylie Cornman won the shot put event with a provisional mark of 47-03.00, while senior Whitney Hardy and junior Shelby Sutherland placed third and 10th in the high jump.

Brittni Reagan and White placed second and third in the triple jump while earning provisional marks for both. Reagan hit a distance of 37-11.50, while White hit 37-06.75.

Harris said, “As a team, I think we have improved a great amount since our opening meet. A lot of girls were put on the national list, and our 4×400 team broke the school record. We are improving a great amount, and conference will bring us great accomplishments if we are able

to stay healthy.”