Full Results
FINDLAY, Ohio - The University of South Florida women's track and field team captured three events titles as the Bulls completed their first meet of the season Saturday at the Oiler Invitational in the Malcolm Athletic Center hosted by Findlay University. Team scores were not kept.
Freshman Dariel Jackson captured the 200 meters in her first collegiate action, while junior Stephanie Duffy took first in the pole vault. Senior Yvana Hepburn made a strong statement to begin her last season with the Bulls, winning the 60-meter hurdles.
Jackson clocked in at 25.60, nearly a full second faster than the second-place finisher, to easily win the event title. Fellow rookie Ena Johnson finished eighth with a time of 27.04. Jackson also took third in the 60 meters, running a time of 7.74 in the finals after going 7.76 in the preliminaries.
Hepburn took first in the prelims of the 60 hurdles in 8.63, then followed that up by running the finals in 8.62, a mere 0.04 seconds faster than Findlay's Raven Clay.
Duffy, who owns USF's second-best indoor mark in the pole vault, cleared a height of 12-5.5 feet to finish in a tie for first with Courtney Siebenaller of Dayton, although Duffy had a higher seed coming into the meet than Siebenaller. Junior Dana Webb finished in a tie for ninth with a mark of 10-11.75.
Freshman Courtney Anderson began her collegiate career by clearing 5-6 in the high jump, putting her in fourth place overall. Anderson, who won the Florida state title in the spring during her senior year of high school, earned a tie for fifth on USF's all-time charts with her height.
Sophomore Lauren Noe, an Ohio native, took fifth in the weight throw with a heave of 55-0.75 feet, while sophomore Atasha Warren easily threw a personal best of 53-7.75, more than 4 ½ feet farther than her previous high mark, as she moved up into eighth all-time on USF's top-10 list. Warren also threw 43-9.25 in the shot put for seventh place.
Senior Samantha Shade grabbed a pair of top-5 finishes in the triple and long jumps. Shade took fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 37-5 feet, while also finishing fifth in the long jump with a mark of 17-4.25. Junior Rachel Etienne went ninth in the long jump, while junior MaShonda Rayner and freshman Tralanda Todd finished seventh and eighth, respectively, in the triple jump.
Senior Kayla Richmond finished in first in the 400 meters in 1:00.97, while freshman Rachel James and junior Meagan Smithyman went 6-7 in the 800 meters with times of 2:24.56 and 2:26.01, respectively. USF also took fourth in the 4x400 relay, finishing the race in 4:02.61.
The Bulls return to the track after the holidays, as USF will head back to Ohio for the Akron Quad Jan. 15, hosted by the University of Akron.
