LONG BEACH, Calif. – The North Dakota State women's track & field team opened three days of competition in southern California with a pair of meets on Thursday.
 
At the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate hosted by Long Beach State, Kendra Kelley ran a career-best 23.69 in the 200m dash to take second in the meet and rank third-fastest in NDSU history. She also placed fifth in the 100m dash, clocking 11.69 for the second-fastest time of her career.
 
Terezia Bolibruch took third in the 100m hurdles at Long Beach in 13.69. Salmata Korgho placed fourth, tying her personal-best time of 13.75.
 
Bailee Dierks ran a personal-best 13.78 in the 100m hurdles, moving up to seventh-fastest in NDSU history. She also took fifth in the 400m hurdles in 1:01.24.
 
Nell Graham clocked 1:01.54 in her 400m hurdles debut. Angel Pratt ran 1:03.08 for the second-fastest time of her career.
 
Freshman Julia Gherardi cleared a season-best 12-10 (3.91m) in the pole vault, ranking her sixth in NDSU outdoor history.
 
Senior Alissa Melvin placed third to lead the Bison women in the triple jump at 39-10.75 (12.16m). Jodi Lipp finished fifth at 39-06.75 (12.06m), and Grace Emineth was sixth at 39-02.25 (11.94m).
 
Jenna Parent placed fifth in the long jump with a mark of 19-04.75 (5.91m). Merrideth Spiers threw 152-0 (46.34m) in the discus for the second-best mark of her career.
 
At the Bryan Clay Invitational hosted by Azusa Pacific, Alexis Roehl ran a career-best 10:52.62 in the 3000m steeplechase to rank ninth on the NDSU all-time list. She cut 16 seconds off her previous best.
 
Competition will continue Friday and Saturday at Long Beach State and Azusa Pacific.