The Missouri Southern men’s and women’s track teams showed improvement with a title-laden performance at the Lion Open last weekend.

The first day of the Lion Open gave Jayce Thomas, a freshman from Blue Springs, Mo. the chance to compete in his first heptathlon. Thomas won high jump with a height of 6-5.5, placed third in the long jump, and fourth in the shot put and 60-meter dash.

He placed third with a point total of 2,553.

Emily Paullus, a freshman from Neosho, competed in a pentathlon for the first time in her career.

Paullus placed second in the 60-meter hurdles, the high jump and the long jump, while placing third in the 800-meter dash and the shot put. She placed  second in the pentathlon with a total score of 2,955.

Nicole Green, a senior thrower from Carthage, won the women’s shot throwing at 49-5.5, marking the nation’s number two ranking and automatically qualifying for Division-II nationals. Kiley Cornman, a sophomore thrower from Mountain View, Mo., placed third  at 45-9.25.

The Lions also placed first and second in the men’s shot put. Dustin Green, a junior from Conway Springs, Kan., beat his teammate Seth Hackney, a junior from Carl Junction by 0.75 inches, ranking Green and Hackney seventh and eighth in the nation, respectively.

Jasmin Hughes, a sophomore from Hartville, Mo., placed second overall in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.88, while also placing second in the 400-meter dash. She also placed fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.69.

Junior pole vaulter John Lowe, from West Plains, placed third and hit a personal best with a provisional pole vault height of 16-0.75.

Clark Tanksley, a sophomore from St Louis, won the 400-meter dash with a time of 51:03, as well as placing second in the high jump with a provisional qualifying height of 6-11. In triple jump, Darion Boure, a freshman from St. Louis made a provisional score with a distance of 46-11.

In other action, Lisa Vengels, a senior from Dixon, Mo.,  placed second in the high jump, earning a provisional height of 5-05.75.

While Melanie Bower, a freshman from Linn, Mo. placed second in the pole vault with a height of 11-01.75.

“Every meet is a stepping stone for the next meet.” women’s Head Coach Patty Vavra said. “It’s  really nice getting the opportunity to see some of our young athletes in different events the last two weeks. They start to get a better feel for which events may be best for them to compete in throughout the year.”

This weekend, the Lions will be competing at events held in Nebraska and Warrensburg, Mo.