JONESBORO, Ark. (2/4/16) – Several student-athletes from the Arkansas State University track and field squads competed at the SIU Don DeNoon Invitational this weekend, bringing home several personal bests and top finishes.

Junior Erin Farmer broke the school record in the shot put with a mark of 15.78m (51-09.25) to win the event. The mark moves her to the top of the Sun Belt performance list and from 47th to 31st nationally. Calea Carr , who ranks second in the Sun Belt, finished fourth with a throw of 14.78m (48-06.00).

Samone Thompson posted a time of 8.88 in the preliminaries of the 60-meter hurdles, the eighth-fastest time in program history, but improved upon the time in the finals to finish second. Thompson posted a time of 8.77 in the finals, to rank fifth in program history. On the men's side, A-State finished third ( Tiaan Steenkamp -8.46), fifth ( Clint Ligon -8.98) and sixth ( David Phillips -9.15).

A-State finished first and second in the 3,000-meter run with Abbey Dixon (10:08.29) and Arnica Zitting (10:09.73) setting the pace. Zitting improved upon her personal-best with her mark and holds to the sixth-fastest time in program history in the event.

The women's distance group continued a productive weekend with Christin Dornback (2:27.53) and Erin Nunan (2:27.65) finishing seventh and eighth, respectively, in the 800-meter run. Kyandra Chandler seventh in the mile run with a personal-best of 5:18.24. Drew Mueller finished fourth in the mile run with a time of 4:19.55.

Elsewhere in field events, Thompson was third in long jump with leap of 5.52m (18-01.50). Gracee Damron was eighth with a personal-best leap of 5.36m (17-07.00). Megan Wright finished seventh in the pole vault, clearing 3.43m (11-03.00). Farmer added a third place finish in the weight throw with a launch of 18.88m (61-11.50).

Cameron Stalnaker posted a personal-best in the pole vault with a mark of 4.63m (15-02.2) to finish sixth. Michael Carr was eighth with clearance of 4.63m (15-02.25). Cristian Ravar Ladislau finished fourth in the weight throw with a mark of 17.69m (58-00.50). Ladislau (14.20m/46-07.25) was sixth in the shot put and freshman Juan Pimentel posted a personal-best of 14.05m (46-01.25) to finish eighth.

The men's high jump saw A-State collect three top-six finishes. Steenkamp cleared 2.02m (6-07.50) to finish third while Phillips was fourth with a clearance of 1.97m (6-05.50). Ligon also cleared 1.97m (6-05.50) and finished sixth. Ivery Guyton finished third in the women's high jump, clearing 1.66m (5-05.25). Chandler Kelly tied for fourth, with a personal-best mark of 1.56m (5-01.25).

The remainder of the A-State track and field squad will compete Sunday at the South Alabama Invitational at the Birmingham CrossPlex. The action begins at 12:15 pm and live results can be found at http://www.xpresstiming.com/Live/2016/Indoor/USA throughout the day.

http://www.xpresstiming.com/Live/2016/Indoor/USA