Sprinters on Display at Final Day of Holiday Inn Invite

Friday, January 13

Lincoln, Neb.

Oklahoma State University

Holiday Inn Invite

January 14, 2017 | Cowboy Cross Country & Track, Cowgirl Cross Country & Track

Holiday Inn Invite Day Two Results

LINCOLN, Neb. – The sprinters took center stage and led the way for the Oklahoma State track and field team Saturday, at the final day of competition at the Holiday Inn Invite, as they achieved multiple personal bests and took home several wins.

Malik Givens' 6.70 in the 60-meter final propelled the Cowboy sophomore into a tie for fifth in the NCAA this year and second in the Big 12. The mark was more than a tenth of a second faster than his debut time from December and a new personal best.

"Malik was the highlight of the day for me," coach Dave Smith said. "He's flirting with a national qualifying mark with that time, and it's pretty early in the season."

Givens' final time overshadowed his prelim time of 6.73, which stood as his PR and the 11th-best time in the NCAA for nearly 20 minutes. With his 6.70, Givens moves to third in school history.

Newcomer Logan Daily also advanced to the 60-meter final with a personal-best 6.96. In the final, he finished seventh in 6.99 seconds.

Kira White set another personal best, making it four consecutive races of PR-setting times when she won the 60-meter final in 7.65 seconds.

"She was impressive today," Smith said. "The way she and Malik went out and ran PRs on back-to-back races, it was a great series for the two of them."

The mark came less than an hour after running a 7.67 in the preliminary round, and continues a trend of decreasing times for the true freshman after Friday's 7.74 and a 7.75 at the Kansas State Winter Invitational in December.

With the win Saturday, she moves to third on the Cowgirls' all-time list in the 60-meter dash and is now in the top-10 in the conference for 2017.

Ieva Zarankaite's 14.92m/48-11.5 foot throw in the shot put earned her a second-place finish in the event and put her at the top of the Big 12 by nearly two feet.

The Cowgirls took all of the top-six places in the 600-meter run with junior Kaylee Dodd leading the pack. The British international's time of 1:32.94 was enough to win heat four and the event overall with Cowgirl newcomer Ariane Ballner (1:34.72) taking second, Amira Coleman, Ambra Wesley and Danielle Coleman taking third through fifth, and freshman Sinclaire Johnson finishing in sixth.

In the men's 600, All-American Tre'Tez Kinnaird took fourth and South African international Heinrich van Niekerk finished sixth in his first ever race for the Cowboys after redshirting all of 2016.

"We didn't win every event today, but we tried," Smith said. "I liked that fight that we had out there this weekend. The first meet of the year is always a hard one, but we were really aggressive and looked like we wanted to win everything."

As is tradition, the 4X400-meter relays closed out the two-day meet, and OSU ran multiple quartets in both the men and women's sections.

The team of Amira Coleman, Danielle Coleman, Wesley and Stephanie Ferrante won its heat and took first overall with a time of 3:49.92.

As for the Cowboys, their quartet of Tyler Jackson, Brandon Singleton, Anthony Grogan Jr., and Givens finished third in a season's best 3:18.33.

"The attitude is there for the team," Smith said. "We're looking great, and I think the fitness and the race-readiness will come as the season progresses."

Up next for OSU is trip back to Manhattan, Kansas, for the DeLoss Dodds Invitational Jan. 20. At the same meet last season, The Pokes won four events including a sweep of the men and women's 1,000-meter runs.

Holiday Inn Invite | Jan. 14, 2017 | Lincoln, Neb.

Men's Results

60 Meter Hurdles Prelim
8. Donovan Nunley – 8.43q
23. Cole Verble – 9.32

60 Meter Hurdles Final
7. Donovan Nunley – 8.58

60 Meter Prelim
1. Malik Givens – 6.73Q
7. Logan Daily – 6.96q
20. Ty Smith – 7.11

60 Meter Final
1. Malik Givens – 6.70
7. Logan Daily – 6.99

600 Meters
4. Tre'Tez Kinnaird – 1:20.65
6. Heinrich van Niekerk – 1:21.82
10. Tanner Green – 1:23.67
11. Chance Galloway – 1:23.74

4X400-Meter Relay
3. Oklahoma State Team A – 3:18.33
T. Jackson, B. Singleton
A. Grogan Jr., M. Givens
12. Oklahoma State Team B – 3:28.17
B. Johnson, R. Wheatley
C. Verble, D. Nunley

Women's Results

60 Meter Hurdles Prelim
6. Emily Hart – 9.00q
19. Devre Newby – 9.45
23. Erin Hart – 9.67

60 Meter Prelim
1. Kira White – 7.67Q

60 Meter Final
1. Kira White – 7.65

200 Meters
14. Stephanie Ferrante – 26.16
17. Erin Hart – 26.51

600 Meters
1. Kaylee Dodd – 1:32.94
2. Ariane Ballner – 1:34.72
3. Amira Coleman – 1:34.91
4. Ambra Wesley – 1:35.05
5. Danielle Coleman – 1:35.06
6. Sinclaire Johnson – 1:35.96
17. Devre Newby - 1:46.34

4X400-Meter Relay
1. Oklahoma State Team C – 3:49.92
A. Coleman, D. Coleman
A. Wesley, S. Ferrante
4. Oklahoma State Team B – 3:52.23
S. Johnson, S. Camacho,
K. Larson, A. Ballner
5. Oklahoma State Team A – 3:52.94
C. Jarvis, K. Dodd
M. Sughroue, A. Hetherington

Shot Put
2. Ieva Zarankaite – 14.92m/48-11.5
5. Katie Kehl – 13.58m/44-6.75
9. Jocelen Ruth – 12.69m/41-7.75