Amanda Meyer (Somerset, Wis./Somerset H.S.) finished in second place in the pole vault and Martha Josephson (Detroit Lakes, Minn./Detroit Lakes H.S.) set a new school record on her way to a third place finish in the high jump to lead Valparaiso into fifth place heading into the final day of the Mid-Continent Conference Championships being held in Macomb, Ill.

Western Illinois leads the competition through Friday with 93 points while Southern Utah is ten points behind after eight events. UMKC ranks third with 42 points, followed by Oral Roberts with 37 and Valpo with 29 points. Chicago State has tallied 24 points in two days.

Meyer cleared 10'5 ½" in the pole vault to earn runner-up honors while teammate Heather Furr (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield H.S.) also earned the Crusaders a point with an eighth place finish jumping 9'5 ¾". In the high jump, Josephson finished third with a leap of 5'3", breaking her own old record by ½". The sophomore was just two inches shy of the top spot.

Valpo did not score in the long jump where Meyer placed tenth as the top Crusader with a jump of 16'5 ¼". Holly Hagen (Hobart, Ind./Hobart H.S.) earned a ninth place finish in the shot put with a toss of 35'1", tops on the team.

Jessica Cherrington (Roseberg, Ore./Umpqua Valley Christian H.S.) finished fifth for the Brown and Gold in the heptathlon scoring 3,784 points. The sophomore won the javelin event of the competition with a season-best toss of 129'4" and was third in the 800m run with a time of 2:34.30.

In the 3,000m steeple chase, Amanda Lee (South Lyon, Mich./South Lyon H.S.) and Jobeth Schmiesing (North Mankato, Minn./Mankato West H.S.) each scored for Valpo. Lee was fifth crossing the line in 11:32.33 while Schmiesing was one place back with a time of 12:24.40.

Preliminary heats were also held on Friday in the sprints. Maggie Zellner (Downers Grove, Ill./Benet Academy) qualified for finals in the 400m dash with a time of 58.91 seconds, while Mary Frisch (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton H.S.) advanced in the 400m hurdles crossing the line in 1:06.55.

The championships will wrap-up competition on Saturday with field events beginning at 10 a.m. and running finals starting at 12:30 p.m.