JOPLIN, MISSOURI – A&M-Commerce track and field had a successful showing in its first day of competition at the MSSU Lion Open, which features some of the top Division II competition in the country.
 
In the weight throw, Masoud Moghaddam ran back last week's script by once again hitting a provisional qualifier and re-setting his six-day old LSC record. His new toss of 19.25 meters shattered his previous mark of 18.66 meters by 3.1 percent, an improvement of 0.59 meters, and was good enough for a third place finish in the event. As things currently stand, his throw is the tenth best mark in Division II.
 
The men's distance medley team, featuring Luis Romero, Eric Williams, Andrew Cobos and Dorian McCradic, won the event outright with a time of 10:14.95, and following a flat track conversion, secured an NCAA provisional qualifier.
 
As a team, the Lions performed admirably in the men's long jump, with three athletes achieving top-10 finishes. DJ Richardson headlined the group with a sixth place finish by virtue of a 6.98 meter leap, followed by Devontae Steele (seventh) and Anthony Harris (tenth), who logged distances of 6.91 and 6.82 meters respectively.
 
In the 200 meter dash, Dexter Lee logged a 22.52 second finish to come in fifth place, with teammate Ravi Dubose not far behind in eighth place (22.63 seconds).
 
In the heptathlon, all three Lions competing currently stand in the top-ten with the event just past the halfway-point. James Lundy placed first overall in the high jump with a 2.01m mark, while reigning outdoor All-American Hendrik Nungess finished first in the shot put with a 14.42 meter lob. With four events down and three to go, Nungess is in fifth place with 2849 points, senior Matt Rich is in sixth with 2839 points, and Lundy is in eighth place with 2605 points.
 
For the women, Terra Truitt had a strong showing in the 5,000 meter run, finishing in fourth place with a time of 18:48.66.
 
The Lions achieved a sixth place finish in the women's distance medley, with a time of 13:06.38. The team consisted of Noelle Ortiz, Tyler Cottingham, Jenna McLaughlin and Tori Lenz.
 
Kamryn McKee rounded out the top-ten finishes for the Lions, placing 10th in the long jump with a 5.30 meter hop.
 
The meet will resume today, as day two is set to begin at 9 a.m.