ORANGE CITY, Iowa – College of Saint Mary opened up competition in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships Friday.

Kellesse Heard led the way for the Flames with a fifth-place finish in the long jump. Her jump of 5.45m (17-10.75) was a career best.

"Kellesse had an outstanding day, highlighted by her finish in the long jump," CSM Coach Jerrid Johansen said. "Coming into the competition she was seeded 18^th out of 24 jumpers, but on her very first jump of the competition, she jumped 5.45 meters (17-10 ¾), which was an improvement of 30 cm from her previous best.  That jump was good enough to get her into finals, and held up as the fifth best jump of the competition, earning Kellesse her first all-conference honor."

College of Saint Mary scored 11 points in three events and the Flames are currently in 7^th place in team competition.

Madalynn Rhodes took seventh place in the javelin with a throw of 35.65m (116-11) to earn all-conference honors for the third consecutive season.

"For whatever reason, Montana has been in a little bit of funk lately and hasn't been at her usual consistent level," Johansen said. "I know she was hoping for a little better result today, but Coach Drwal and I were proud of the way she competed. She was in 8^th place after the prelims, but had two better throws in finals, which was good enough for her to move into 7^th place. That was great to see."

Also for the Flames in field events, Allison Isaacson placed 11^th in the pole vault with 3.10m (10-02) and Taylor Hrabik finished 15^th with 2.80m (9-02.25).

CSM's lone relay Friday was the 4x800 with Natalie Briggs, Mira Fosmer, Corinne Mead and Autumn Simons. The foursome took fourth place in 9:55.15 and broke the CSM school record.

"The relay team competed well today and accomplished their goal of breaking 10 minutes for the first time in program history," Johansen said. "Mira had a great second leg, running 2:19 split. Hopefully that bodes well for her open 800m tomorrow afternoon."

Also for the Flames, Heard finished 10^th in the 100m dash prelims in 12.46 and Jocelyn Farhar was 12^th in the 10,000m in 44:23.47.

"Kellesse had a fantastic day," Johansen said. "To improve by four-tenths of a second in the 100, and nearly a foot in the long jump all in the span of 15 minutes, is really an impressive feat. Kellesse has been working really hard and has been putting together some great workouts. It was great that she was able to put it all together and have her best performances in a championship meet.

"Jocey, Taylor and Ally had solid performances today and all three placed higher than what they were seeded coming into the meet. Overall, we competed at a high level today and hopefully that's a sign of good things to come for our athletes on Day 2."

The two-day championships continue Saturday. The 2024 Outdoor Championships are being hosted by Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.