Only three meets into the season, the Missouri Southern men’s and women’s track team is setting the pace for a winning season.

The Leggett & Platt Althetic Center served as the venue for Southern’s first track meet of the the spring semester, the MSSU Invitational.

After a hectic first week of practices, the Lions track and field teams rewarded themselves with several wins last weekend.

“We dominated our control in most events and that’s what we try to do,” men’s Head Coach Tom Rutledge said.

Dustin Green, a junior thrower from Conway Springs, Kan., dominated by placing first in the weight throw with a throw of 16.48 meters, good for the eleventh best throw in Division-II.

Fellow junior thrower Seth Hackney from Carl Junction placed second with a throw of 16.14 meters.

Jasmine Hughes, a sophomore from Hartville, Mo., placed fourth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.03.

Hughes also qualified for the 60-meter dash finals with a preliminary time of 7.93.

Nicole Green, a senior thrower from Carthage, placed first in the weight throw with a provisional qualifying distance of 50-04.75, while Kylie Cornman, a sophomore thrower from Mountain View, Mo., placed second with a distance of 48-04.50 also earning provisionals.

Freshmen sprinter Jeff Fraley, from St. Robert, Mo., qualified for finals in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.03 and finished the 200-meter dash in second place with a 22.22 time.

Rachel Schrader, a sophomore distance runner from Bolivar won the mile with a provisional time of  5:07.73.

Clark Tanksley placed first in the high jump, earning a powerful provisional score of 2.10 meters, also a jump that is ranked sixth in Division-II this year.

Southern also received wins in the pole vault from Scott Bertelli, in the 600 from Emily Weldin, the high jump from Lisa Vengels, pole vault from Melanie Bower, and in the triple jump from Darion Boure.

With the Lion Open coming up this weekend and a busy schedule ahead of them, the Southern track & field teams are off to a fierce start that can only help them reach their goal of sending 8-10 athletes to nationals.