LAWRENCE, Kan. - Each Midwestern State runner set a personal best in a sterling performance at the 85th Annual Kansas Relays Thursday night at Memorial Stadium.
 
"We're two weeks away from conference and everyone is running their best," MSU coach Koby Styles said. "That's the way it should be."
 
Sophomore Ashley Flores bettered her best mark in the 5,000-meter run by three seconds to clock a time of 17:49.34 to finish eighth in a deep field including 31 runners. The Keller native became just the third LSC runner to break the 18-minute barrier in the 5K joining Tarleton State's Lindsey Hinton (17:25.11) and Angelo State's Emeline Crutcher (17:48.46).
 
"She was able to hang on and regain focus a little quicker than Arizona State (two weeks ago)," Styles said. "She PR'd and didn't run her best race. We'll take it."
 
Freshman Michelle Krezonoski enjoyed a strong showing in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:30.63 finishing third behind Tessa Turcotte of Kansas (10:08.45) and the unattached Annika Gompers (10:09.02).  Teammate Kim Krezonoski placed eighth with a time of 11:01.58.
 
"This was Michelle's best race of the season so far," Styles said. "The plan was for Kim to run her own race, but they got caught in a group and they paced with them. That hurt them tonight, but getting this experience in these big time races will definitely help them moving forward."
 
Michelle Krezonoski, a Thunder Bay, Canada native, fell just three seconds shy of a provisional time for the Canadian national championships.
 
Junior Melody Caldwell came through with a personal best time of 5:01.38 to finish 26th in the 1500-meter run to better her time of 5:14.20 set at the North Texas Classic earlier this month.
 
"This was a huge PR for her," Styles said. "She has made huge strides from her freshman year to now. I'm very proud of the way she has run over the past three years for us. She is just going to keep getting better and better."
 
Sophomore Janel Campbell finished sixth 10,000-meter run with a time of 39:54.00 despite the field putting in an extra lap.
 
"This was Janel's very first 10K," Styles said. "We wanted to see what 25 laps feels like on a track for her. She went and ran well with the leader, but the 10K is one of the races on the track. You have to mentally focused for so long, but she'll be read in two weeks."
 
The Mustangs compete in their first Lone Star Conference Championship on May 5-6 in Commerce, Texas.