Warrensburg, Mo. – The SBU women's track and field team opened 2023 with a rust buster meet at University of Central Missouri. A little over 10 Bearcat ladies competed in the UCM Invitational today.
 
"Today was a good start to the year." Head Coach Corey McElhaney said, "It was great to see the team compete again and a good motivator going into the next stretch of our indoor season. We have some work to do and the team is ready to work towards that."
 
The Bearcats had four ladies finish in the top two this evening. Lainy Williams won the 800-meter run, with her teammate Alexis Barber following just two seconds behind for 2^nd place. Tessa Valdivia dominated the 3,000-meter finishing in 1^st place nearly 15 seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Senior Madison Hicks showed off her speed in the 600-yard run finishing in 2^nd place.
 
Other notable mentions include Skylar Shepard who returned as a Bearcat and finished 6^th in the shot put. Stephanique Dean finished 3^rd in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:00.44. Junior Paige Bradley finished slightly behind Hicks in the 600-yard run in 4^th place. Reagan Thormure finished 4^th in the 200-meter dash. Lydia Sexton also had a personal record in the woman's weight throw with a distance of 10.70 meters.
 
The team will compete again next weekend as they travel to Pitt State University for the second time this season. The PSU Wendy's invite will take place on Saturday January 28^th.