AMES, Iowa - Senior sprinter Gloria Asumnu led the way for the Green Wave Saturday at the second day of the Iowa State Classic at the Lied Recreation Center, adding a second-place finish in the 60-meter dash to the sixth-place finish she earned in the 200-meter dash the previous day.
For the third time this season, Asumnu broke her own school record in the 60-meter dash. The time of 7.32 seconds she earned in the finals was a 0.07-second improvement over her performance at the Meyo Invitational last week. Asumnu's time was also the fourth provisional qualifying mark she has posted in the event this year as she tries to earn an invitation to the NCAA Championships in March.
"She just really went after it," head coach Heather Van Norman said about Asumnu's race. "That's huge for her, not only because that should pretty much lock her in for a national bid, but also, more importantly, she needed to do that for herself after all the work she's put in."
Two other Green Wave athletes set season bests on Saturday, as junior Taneekwa Ross bettered her time in the 60-meter dash and sophomore Cecilia Clarke improved her 3,000-meter time by three seconds. Clarke's time was also a collegiate best for her in her first meet back from illness since the Leonard Hilton Invitational Jan. 19.
"That was good for [Clarke] considering how long she's been out," Van Norman said. "Overall, it was a good day for us."
On the first day of the classic, junior Aubrey Phillips' impressive showing in the 5,000-meter run highlighted Tulane's participation. Phillips' time of 17:39.90 was a 43-second improvement over her prior personal best and put her among the top three in Conference USA in the event.
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"That's a huge breakthrough for Aubrey," head coach Heather Van Norman said. "We're really excited for her. That was amazing."
In addition to Phillips' performance, Asumnu took sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.03 seconds. Though the time was an improvement over last week's time at the Meyo Invitational, it was just shy of a provisionally qualifying time. Junior Kyra Lobbins also set a personal best in the same race, besting her time from last week's race at Notre Dame by running the event in 25.45 seconds.
Here are the results from the weekend:
60-METER HURDLES
55. Nicolette Taku, 9.52
200-METER DASH
6. Gloria Asumnu, 24.03
52. Kyra Lobbins, 25.45 (Season Best)
58. Olivia Kizzee, 25.51
71. Shanon Beelendorf, 25.80
83. Taneekwa Ross, 25.92 (Personal Best)
5,000-METER DASH
NON-SEEDED SECTION
18. Aubrey Phillips, 17:39.90 (Personal Best)
TRIPLE JUMP
36. Nicolette Taku, 11.46m (37-07.25)
60-METER DASH
PRELIMINARIES
3. Gloria Asumnu, 7.42
32. Taneekwa Ross, 7.85 (Season Best)
33. Olivia Kizzee, 7.85
65. Kyra Lobbins, 8.06
SEMIFINALS
3. Gloria Asumnu, 7.38
FINALS
2. Gloria Asumnu, 7.32 (School Record)
400-METER DASH
25. Shanon Beelendorf, 57.26
83. Vanessa Kienast, 1:01.04
800-METER RUN
58. Whitney Hampton, 2:19.61
3,000-METER RUN
74. Cecilia Clarke, 11:11.44 (Personal Best)
For complete results from the Iowa State Classic, click here.