Clayton State women place sixth overall at Gem of the Hills Invitational

JACKSONVILLE, Ala. – April 7, 2012 – The Clayton State Laker women's track and field team enjoyed yet another productive meet on Saturday, recording six Top Five finishes to place sixth overall at the Gem of the Hills Invitational at Jacksonville State.

The Lakers accumulated 45 points in the 13-team field. Host Jacksonville State won the event with 222 points.

Junior Paige Galvin recorded the highest individual finish for Clayton State, placing second overall in the 5,000-meter run in a time of 18:55.43. She recorded one of three Top 10 finishes in the event for the Lakers. Freshman Jessica Smith placed fourth with a time of 20:34.11, while freshman Holly McNorton placed sixth in 21:40.13.

The Lakers also had multiple Top 10 finishes in both the 1,500-meter run and the 800-meter run. In the 1,500-meter run, junior Monique Belmudes finished fourth overall with a personal-best time of 4:52.90, and sophomore Samantha Walling placed sixth in 5:10.21. Freshman Maia Kuhnen finished sixth overall in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:20.71, followed by Walling in seventh in 2:29.94 and sophomore Gisele Javois in 10^th in 2:33.15.

In the field events, Clayton State recorded three Top 10 finishes. Senior Kayla Mobley finished fourth in both the shot put (41-2.25 feet) and in the discus (117-11 feet), while freshman Silvia Espelt placed eighth in the javelin with a throw of 94-3.5 feet.

In the relays, the Laker team of Javois, Kuhnen, Belmudes and Walling finished fourth in the 4x400-meter relay event in 4:11.08.

Clayton State's next meet is the Division II Southeast Regional on April 20-21 at Lenoir-Rhyne.