MANKATO, Minn. – Olivia Montez Brown started 2017 off on the right foot with her performances on Saturday. Montez Brown broke the school record in the long jump and provisionally qualified in two events at the MSU Alumni Open in Mankato, Minn.

Montez Brown took first in the long jump with a leap of 19' 2.5", which was also was a provisional qualifier. Montez Brown broke her previous school record in the long jump that she set last season. Her previous record was 18' 11.25". Sara Heyn finished sixth in the long jump with a personal best mark of 17' 6.75".

Montez Brown also took first in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.76. Her time was a provisional mark, as well as, a personal record. Valerie Moos and Ellie Rew took fourth and sixth, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles.

Montez Brown took tied with teammate Christine Campbell for fifth in the high jump. Both Montez Brown and Campbell cleared the 5' 1" mark.

"Olivia Montez Brown opened the season up with a dominant showing in both the long jump and hurdles, Coach Greg Binstock said of Montez Brown's performances. "Her long jump mark could be strong enough to send her to DII indoor nationals as it currently sits in the top-five."

In mid-distance races, Josh Barrows finished first in the 800-meters with a personal best time of 1:54.76. Barrows time is good enough for a top-15 mark in Division II up to this point in the season.

"Josh Barrows came off a hard week of training and opened up with a PR in the 800," Coach Binstock stated of Barrows' outing. "He is really fit right now and I think we can still improve his speed."

Blake Savey finished fourth in the 600-meters with a personal record time of 1:27.54. Savey was racing in the 600-meters for the first time in his Viking career.

In sprints, Cortney Dowling continued her strong start to her Viking career with a pair of top-eight finishes. Dowling finished fourth in the 200-meters with a time of 25.62 and placed sixth in the 60-meters with a time of 7.91. Both times are personal records for Dowling.

In field events, Anthony Huber took fourth in the weight throw. Huber tossed a personal best mark of 55' 3".

The 4x400 relay team of Brooke DeVos, Dowling, Emma Schmidt and Morgan Rothschadl combined to take first with a time of 4:06.16.

"It's the first time we have competed this early after the Christmas break," Coach Binstock said of his team's first performance of 2017. "Our goal was to just find out where we are at and then look to make those improvements in the upcoming weeks. MSU will host indoor conference this year and the more times we can compete on that track the better off we will be."

The Vikings will have next weekend off before traveling to Brooking, S.D. for the Jim Emmerich Invitational on Jan. 20-21.