PSU women first, men third, headed into final day of MIAA championships

(From Pittsburg State University Athletics)

JOPLIN, Mo. — The distance medley relay team of Hope Manning, Olivia Boone, Sarah Jewett and Jordan Puvogel raced to an MIAA individual event title in the last event of the night to propel the Pittsburg State University women's indoor track & field team into a first place tie at the 2017 MIAA Indoor Championships Saturday (Feb. 25), while the Gorilla men head to Championships Sunday in third place in the conference standings.

The Pitt State women compiled 31 points to finish Saturday's action at the Leggett & Platt Athletic Center tied atop the MIAA leaderboard with Lindenwood University with 31 points. Misouri Southern is third with 24 points.

The Pitt State men find themselves in third place with 41 points, trailing only the host school Missouri Southern (52) by 11 points and Central Missouri (42) by one point.

Championship Sunday action begins at 11 a.m. (CST).

In the men's action, Tanner McNutt started the day by capturing an MIAA title in the heptathlon - his second league crown in three seasons. McNutt captured the MIAA title in the heptathlon as a redshirt freshman in 2015 and finished as the MIAA runner-up in 2016. Mitchell Hodson added a third-place finish in the multi-events while Jared Page placed fifth overall as the Gorillas totaled 20 points in the multi-events.

Jonathan Adamson added a fifth-place finish in the 5,000 meters in 15:04.03, while Omar Lewis (59-5.5) and Levi Wyrick (57-5.5) finished fifth and seventh in the weight throw. Conner McGuire finished fifth (15-10) and Kai Miller placed eighth (15-4.25) in the pole vault, while Louis Rollins finished seventh in the triple jump (47-3). The distance medley relay of Alexander Burson, D'Antre Eaton, Noah Gfeller and Hunter Blount placed fifth in 10:22.02.

In the women's action, Jasmine Smith placed third (57-0.75) and Brianna Cooks finished fourth (56-7.25) in the weight throw, while Amira Jenkins placed fifth in the triple jump (38-1.25). Piper Misse also finished eighth in the 5,000 meters in 17:44.99.

The Pitt State women also saw a new school record set in the prelims of the 60 meter hurdles. Emilyn Dearman and Courtney Nelson both bested Nelson's previous school record of 8.50 seconds in the discipline. Nelson was clocked in 8.43 seconds, while Dearman turned in a time of 8.38 seconds. The duo now hold the top two marks in NCAA Division II in the 60m hurdles this season.