"It was a great way to start the outdoor season," CMU Head Coach Jeff Hoskisson said. "The athletes performed exceptionally well."

Freshman Rebeca Barajas (Ashland, Mo.) started the season off with a bang, setting CMU records in all three of her events. She leapt a personal-best 5-feet-3-inches/1.60 meters to break Luba Stoyanova's 2003 record of 5-2.25/1.58m in the high jump. Barajas jumped 16-3.75/4.97m to break the long jump record of 16-0.25/4.88m set by Chelsey Yoakum in 2006. In the triple jump, Barajas recorded a leap of 35-6.5/10.83m to smash the previous record of 31-2.75/9.52m set by Candace Rau in 2003. Barajas finished third in the high jump and triple jump, while placing fourth in the long jump.

Also on the women's side, sophomore Megan Turner (Fulton, Mo.) finished the meet with a CMU record throw of 115-10/35.30m to finish eighth in the discus. Turner's throw broke the record of 113-9/34.67m set by Dana Miller in 2002.

The Central Methodist men were not to be outdone by the women, as they set three school records and posted one NAIA automatic qualifying mark. Junior Lloyd Dugan (Perry, Kan.) broke one of Central Methodist's longest-standing records by throwing 142-2/43.34m to finish second in the discus. Dugan's throw surpassed the previous record of 141-1/43.01m set in 1968 by Bob Taylor. Earlier in the day, Dugan broke the hammer record set last year by throwing 133-9/40.76m, which was nearly a meter better than Justin Denton's previous record of 130-7/39.81m.

After an outstanding indoor season, sophomore John Lehman (Jefferson City, Mo.) opened the outdoor season by breaking his own school record in the 110m hurdles. Lehman raced to a runner-up finish Saturday with a time of 15.34 seconds to beat his record of 15.35 from last year.

Meanwhile, junior Peter Muldoon (Co Cavan, Ireland) became the first CMU athlete to qualify for the NAIA Outdoor National Championships. Muldoon raced to a time of 23 minutes, 58.97 seconds to finish first in the 5,000m race walk. His time was easily faster than the NAIA ‘A' standard of 26:30.00 to earn Muldoon an automatic trip to the outdoor national championships May 21-23 in Edwardsville, Ill.

Several other CMU athletes also had outstanding performances in the first outdoor meet of the season. For complete results, visit www.centralmethodist.edu/cmathletics/trackfield/0809/oschedule.html. The Eagle track & field teams will continue their outdoor seasons at the Baker Relays in Baldwin City, Kan., March 28. Field and running events are all scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.