BROOKINGS, S.D. — Two relay teams set school records and four Jackrabbits scored wins on the first day of the SDSU Indoor Invitational in front of 1,160 fans at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex.
With a time of 9:18.99, the women's 4x800 relay team of Bobbie McLaury, Whitlee Larson, Laura Lawton and Brooke Peterson broke a school record set in 1993 by nearly eight seconds.
Minutes later, the men's 4x800 relay team of Ayub Kassim, Dylan Slaba, Daniel Pettit and Cal Lawton set a school record with a time of 7:40.80. The quartet's time broke a record set in 1986 by a relay team that featured head coach Rod DeHaven as the anchor.
Notably, both school-record setting relay teams had a Lawton sibling. Laura, a senior, and Cal, a freshman are competing on the same team for the first time since high school this season.
Jazzelena Black won the long jump with a mark of 18-11.25. She improved her personal record by nearly three inches but remains in third place in school history.
Mary Wirth won the high jump with a height of 5-10.50, four inches better than the second-place finisher in the university division. The senior came close to tying her school record of 6-0 on her second attempt at that height, just grazing the bar with her right leg and knocking it free.
Samantha Anderson won her first event of the season, clocking in at 10:24.20 to take the 3,000-meter run crown. Andrew Thies capped the day by winning his first event of the season, timing in at 8:46.28 in the 3,000-meter run.
Carly Carper shaved .01 of a second off her school record in the 200-meter dash that she set last weekend with a time of 24.46.
Ashley Odegaard also set a new personal record in the 200-meter dash, clocking in at 25.17. She is still slotted in sixth all-time in Jackrabbit history.
Going into the 2014-15 indoor season, Marisa Shady was third in school history in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:40.17. She reclaimed that position from Renae Dykstra (1:37.40) with a time of 1:36.14.
On the men's side, Austin Benson continued his climb up the Jackrabbit weight throw rankings. With a mark of 56-4.75 on the first day of the SDSU Indoor Invitational, he moved into fifth. Benson placed sixth in the university division, one spot behind teammate Cullen Mack (57-9).
In his second meet as a Jackrabbit, Colton Bender improved his personal record in the weight throw to 50-10.25. He remains slotted in ninth in school history.
Adam Belhaj joined fellow freshman Zach Schroeder in the Jackrabbit 200-meter dash top 10, clocking in at 22.31 to claim sixth in school history.
The second day of the SDSU Indoor Invitational begins at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.
