LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Coming off their solid performance in their outdoor season opener in Conway at UCA, the Arkansas Tech women's track & field team keeps getting better with every passing meet as the team once again rose to the challenge and competed at a high-level at the Bob Larsen Distance Invitational hosted by UCLA on Friday evening. With marked improvements on times in the 5K across the board as well as a great performance in the 10K, the Golden Suns have shot up both the national and GAC rankings.
FINAL RESULTS
5000 METER
Participating in the first heat of the 5K for the Golden Suns was Karina Maravillas, Marcie Cudworth and Felicity West. The first to cross the finish line for Arkansas Tech was Maravillas with a time of 18:18.15 placing second overall. Just a few seconds behind her was Cudworth who placed third with a time of 18:26.13 in the race. Rounding out the group was West who finished with a 19:09.71 time to place fifth.
With their times in the race, all three set new personal records for themselves in the 5K. The trio also shot up the GAC rankings as Maravillas now owns the fifth best time for the 5K in the conference, while Cudworth has locked down the seventh spot and West slots in at the 12th best time in the GAC.
In the second heat of the 5K, the Golden Suns saw Mary Beth Bailey and Calli Beshore lace up as they went head-to-head against a field of NCAA Division I programs such as UCLA and UC Irvine. The fastest time between the two went to Bailey who clocked in at 17:44.13, while Beshore finished with a 17:57.93 time. Just like with the first heat, both of the participants for Tech in the second heat of the 5K set new personal records for themselves in the race. All five participants for the Golden Suns in the 5K across both heats set new personal records showing a tremendous amount of growth for the program.
The Golden Suns once again shook up the GAC rankings for the 5K as Bailey now has sole possession of the best overall time in the conference for the event with her effort tonight. Beshore is now locked in with the third-best time in the conference following tonight's performance.
Arkansas Tech owns the top three spots for 5K performances in the conference with Bailey at first, Beshore at third and Ashlynn Mays at second with her time in last weekend's meet at UCA. Morganne Browning also lands top ten in the GAC at sixth with her time from UCA. Putting it all together, the Golden Suns own six of the top ten best 5K performances in the Great American Conference with Bailey, Mays and Beshore locking up the top three spots, Maravillas at fifth, Browning at sixth and Cudworth at seventh.
10000 METER
Closing out the meet in the final event for the Golden Suns was Mays and Browning in the 10K race. Crossing the finish line first was Mays with a 37:51.29 time which earned her the fourth-place finish in the race. Browning finished with a total time of 38:44.72 to take home the seventh overall finish.
The pair finished with great times that put them at a high-level position on the Division II national rankings for 10K performances. The total time for Mays in the 10K now locks her in with the fifth-best performance in the country across all of Division II in the event. Browning's performance slots her in with the tenth best time in the country for Division II in the 10K race.
Head women's track & field coach Brock Hime was proud of the way his team represented in the meet.
"Today was a great day for our program. The ladies made this trip count and showed up ready to compete. I really couldn't be more proud of how they represented the program and university. Fight On!"
UP NEXT
The Golden Suns will lace up for their next meet on Saturday, April 2 as they travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo. to compete in the Joey Haines Invitational hosted by Southeast Missouri State University.
