MARION, Ind. - - Ball State track & field senior thrower Marie Lumpkin wasted little time locking up her spot in the 2016 Mid-American Conference Outdoor Championships, opening her outdoor campaign with a MAC automatic qualifying mark of 55.40m (181’-9”) in the hammer throw at the 25th Annual IWU Polar Bear Invitational hosted by Indiana Wesleyan University at the IWU Track & Field Outdoor Complex.
Lumpkin’s career-best effort of 55.40m (181’-9”) won the hammer throw by 3.63m (11’-11”) Thursday, and is the second-best individual mark in program history, trailing only Sarah Martin’s toss of 56.