Thames Earns All-America Honors In 400-Meter Dash

BROOKINGS, S.D. -- Although it was slightly off her record-setting pace from the preliminary heat, Helen Thames earned a fifth place finish with a mark of 56.20 seconds in the 400-meter dash in the NAIA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Saturday. Thames's preliminary mark was one of three new school top marks recorded in the meet, and good for NAIA All America accolades.

Thames was the top finisher for the Eagles in Brookings and had a hand in two new program bests on the weekend. In addition to her time of 55.76 in the preliminary heat, second only to eventual overall winner Stacey Ann Williams from Southern University-New Orleans, Thames ran the leadoff leg of the 4x400-meter relay on Thursday. The senior was joined by Tenka Stringer, Breonne Maltbia and Murielle Mercer to obliterate the previous school-best mark of 3:58.79, recording a time of 3:55.61. The time was just .19 shy of advancement from their heat and just 1.15 seconds away from advancement overall.

Stringer also knocked a half-second off of her school record in the 800-meter, finishing in a time of 2:17.82, but the mark was short of the 2:16.46 necessary to advance to Saturday's finals.

On the field side of the ledger, Shyrelle Yates posted a season-best mark of 11.31m in the triple jump, taking second in her flight. The mark was just shy of her personal and school best of 11.48m.

Rounding out the squad, Josh Benford posted a mark of 2.02m in the high jump, claiming 12th.

Avila has a short break before opening its outdoor season, with the Kansas City Quad Challenge and Emporia State Twilight meets set for March 22 and 23, respectively.