FAYETTE, Mo. - The Central Methodist University women's track & field team finished just two points shy of fifth place at the Heart of America Athletic Conference championships held May 1-2 at CMU.

The Lady Eagles scored 53 points in the meet, just behind fifth-place Graceland University who finished with 55. Lindenwood University won the HAAC title with 321 points, more than doubling second-place Baker University's 150 points.
 

Several Central Methodist athletes turned in key performances. Freshman Jaime Guffey (Browning, Mo.) turned in her best time of the season in the final of the 100-meter hurdles. She finished eighth in the event with a time of 16.81 seconds, which bettered her school-record mark set in early April. Sophomore Kristi Williams (St. Joseph, Mo.) had the top finish for CMU, placing second in the 3,000 steeplechase with a time of 12 minutes, 40.59 seconds.
 

The 3,200 relay team of junior Elizabeth Zaragoza (Dixon, Mo.), freshman Jayna Trokey (Troy, Mo.), sophomore Emily Jahrling (Liberty, Mo.) and freshman Deanna Quisenberry (Holden, Mo.) ran more than 35 seconds faster than the previous season-best for the CMU relay, placing third in the event with a time of 10:06.06. Zaragoza also added a third-place finish in the 800 with a time of 2:20.99.
 

Sophomore Lisa Scrivener (Peculiar, Mo.) turned in a pair of season-best performances at the meet. In just her second time running the 10,000 this season, Scrivener shaved nearly two minutes off her time, finishing third in 42:29.71. She also improved her time in the 5,000 by nearly 30 seconds to place eighth in the event. Senior Christy Laxton (Scott City, Mo.) also had a season-best time in the 10,000, racing to fifth-place in a time of 44:08.45, which was almost 45 seconds better than her previous best this season.
 

Freshman Rebeca Barajas (Ashland, Mo.) and senior Lizy Boit (Eldoret, Kenya) each placed in two events for CMU. Barajas posted her second-best mark of the season in the long jump, finishing sixth with a leap of 5.10 meters. She also earned a fourth-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 10.62 meters. In her second time running the 1,500 this season, Boit raced to eighth place with a time of 5:19.61, bettering her other mark this season by more than 13 seconds. She also finished sixth in the 5,000 in a time of 20:12.81.
 

In the hammer throw, sophomore Megan Turner (Fulton, Mo.), junior Lindsey Williams (St. Joseph, Mo.) and junior Sam Smith (Rocheport, Mo.) placed sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively. Turner and Williams recorded season-best throws of 40.77m and 40.38m, respectively, while Smith posted a throw of 39.98m for eighth. Sophomore Courtney Kolb (Ballwin, Mo.) also scored a point for CMU, clearing a height of 2.58m in the pole vault to place eighth.
 

To view complete results from the HAAC outdoor track & field championships, visit www.centralmethodist.edu/cmathletics/trackfield/index.asp.