Mankato, Minn. --- The opening day of the two-day Mark Schuck Open and Multi presented by North Mankato Family Dentistry treated the #1 Minnesota State Women's Indoor Track & Field team well as they lead the field of a dozen teams via a point total of 76.5 with eight of the 23 events in the books.
 
MSU runners claimed half of the eight scoring spots in the 300-meter run, led by senior Rose Gaye's winning time of 40.21, which is not only the third-best time in program history, but the eighth-best in NCAA Division II history. 
 
Sophomore Elizabeth Schmidt posted the 15^th-best time in school history in the 300-meters, taking fourth with a mark of 41.55.  Finishing in sixth and seventh, respectively, were Norah D'Almeida (41.63) and Quanterra Harrison (41.66).
 
In the pole vault, sophomore Paige Hickson continued her perfect season by taking first place for the fourth time in four meets.  This time, Hickson cleared 3.83 m (12' 6.75") to keep her streak alive. 
 
Sophomore teammate Paige Bauer was the runner-up in the pole vault with a mark of 3.53 m (11' 7") in her season debut.  A trio of Maverick vaulters exited the competition at 3.23 m (10' 7"), with sophomore Toryn Richards, freshman Jenna Sikel, and freshman Abigail Olenius, claiming fifth, sixth, and seventh, respectively.  Also scoring for Minnesota State was sophomore Micah Zaemisch, whose mark of 3.08 m (10' 1.25") tied for eighth.
 
A pair of MSU athletes notched points in the pentathlon, led by junior Samantha Sunnaborg's 3168 points which was good for second in the event, with sophomore Cora Andersen claiming sixth with a career-best point total of 3027.
 
Sophomore Rachel Jaworski was runner-up in the 500-meter dash (1:21.18).  Sophomore Emily Cunningham scored for the Mavericks in the 3000-meter run, taking third place in a time of 10.15.55.
 
The Mavericks will conclude the Mark Schuck Open & Multi, presented by North Mankato Family Dentistry, tomorrow beginning at 10:00 a.m. in Myers Field House on the campus of Minnesota State.
 

Place	Team	Points
1	MINNESOTA STATE	76.5
2	Concordia-St. Paul	30.5
3	Sioux Falls	30
4	Hamline	23
5t	Augustana	19
5t	Bethany Lutheran	19
5t	Winona State	19
8	Southwest Minnesota State	17
9	Wayne State (Neb.)	9
10t	Black Hills State	8
10t	St. Cloud State	8
12	Dakota State	6