BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Ball State senior MaryKate Mellen continued where she left off after the cross country season, leading the indoor track & field team with a pair of top three finishes on the opening day of the Hoosier Open.

   At Indiana's Gladstein Fieldhouse, Mellen kicked off the indoor season with a first-place showing in the 5000m run open race, posting a career-fast time of 17:41.81 to out-pace Ball State assistant coach Ali Bishel who posted a time of 17:56.96 as an unattached runner.

   Mellen's second top-three effort came in the mile run, when she crossed the finish line in third place with a clocking of 5:06.06. Overall, Ball State's student-athletes posted 11 top five efforts on the day.

   In addition to Mellen's effort in the 5000m run, freshman Kelly Swift placed fourth with a time of 19:27.20, while redshirt sophomore Esther Tirado placed fifth at 19:52.47.

   The Cardinals took home placed 3-5 in the 3000m run, as the team's sophomore twins Courtney Edon and Caitlynn Edon placed third (10:31.90) and fifth (10:45.42), respectively, around freshman Katelyn DeVries who placed fourth at 10:38.00.

   In the 4x400m relay, Ball State's A squad of freshman Danielle Dahl, senior Emilee Zets, sophomore Christa Hammond and sophomore Lindsay Wallace combined for a time of 4:06.91 to place fifth.

   In the shot put, redshirt junior Melissa Melgarez placed fifth with a toss of 42-03.50 (12.89m), while BSU's triple jump duo of Zenée Gadson (fourth, 34-11.75/10.66m) and Alyssa Hurlburt (fifth, 33-06.75/10.23m) rounded out BSU's top five performers.

   Action in the Hoosier Open concludes tomorrow, with Wallace competing in the pentathlon which starts at 9:30 a.m. with the 60m hurdles.

Ball State Individual Results

5000m Run
1st MaryKate Mellen 17:41.84
4nd Kelly Swift 19:27.20
5th Esther Tirado 19:52.47
* Assistant Coach Ali Bishel ran unattached and finished second with a time of 17:56.96

60m Dash
9th Zenée Gadson 8.02
10th Jordan McMillan 8.05
12th Christa Hammond 8:18

Mile Run
3rd MaryKate Mellen 5:06.06
6th Courtney Edon 5:14.99
10th Esther Tirado 5:30.12

60m Hurdles
6th Lindsay Wallace 9.77
7th Jazmine Gray 10.08

500m Dash
6th Danielle Dahl 1:18.30
8th Emilee Zets 1:20.58
10th Ashley Schmidgall 1:29.67

3000m Run
3rd Courtney Edon 10:31.90
4th Katelyn DeVries 10:38.00
5th Caitlynn Edon 10:45.42

300m Dash
8th Hannah Lange 41.51
12th Rebecca Kropf 43.00
15th Katie Behrendt 43.62

4x400m Relay
4th Danielle Dahl, Emilee Zets, Christa Hammond, Lindsay Wallace 4:06.91
6th Hannah Lange, Katie Behrendt, Rebecca Kropf, Ashley Schmidgall 4:11.31

Weight Throw
9th Marie Lumpkin 14.15m   46-05.25
10th Jorden Traver 14.12m   46-04.00
11th Erin Walker 13.92m   45-08.00
14th Michaela Hull 11.76m   38-07.00

Shot Put
5th Melissa Melgarez 12.89m   42-03.50
6th Michaela Hull 12.73m   41-09.25
10th Erin Walker 11.19m   36-08.50
11th Marie Lumpkin 11.03m  36-02.25

Pole Vault
DNP Hannah Ciasto-Poor NH

Triple Jump
4th Zenée Gadson 10.66m 34-11.75
5th Alyssa Hurlburt 10.23m 33-06.75

High Jump
7th Haley Austin 1.55m 5-01.00