COLUMBIA -- The track and field staff at the University of Missouri must have liked what they saw over the weekend from one of their recruits.

Marshall senior shot putter Cortni Ervin won her second major meet of the season Saturday at the Mizzou Relays, and did so in convincing fashion. The two-time all-stater made her last throw her best one, reaching 41 feet, 11.5 inches, to put a distance of one foot, 11 inches over her closest challenger, Jefferson City sophomore Emily Old.

Ervin wasn't alone in achievement. Although the Owls didn't claim any more gold medals, sophomore Matt Buford had the best finish of any Marshall sprinter in the meet's history by taking second place in the 100-meter dash.

After posting a seventh-best time of 11.70 seconds in the preliminary, finishing second in the first heat, Buford lopped off nearly a quarter-second for an 11.48 in the finals.

Buford also anchored the Owls' improved sprint relay teams, running behind sophomore Evan Johnson and juniors Emmanuel Reeders and Marty Kays. The combo was fourth in the 400-meter prelims (45.80), but came in fifth in the finals (45.06), despite a faster time -- .66 seconds under the best Marshall could muster in 2007. The quartet arrived in sixth place in the 800 relay (1:36.03), faster than a year ago by 1.66 seconds.

Two members of the relay squad also medaled in the long jump, Reeders coming in third (20-3.5) -- breaking his personal record, which was good for ninth at the Mizzou Relays last year, by 8.75 inches -- and Johnson seventh (19-5.5).

Marshall's 3,200 relay (9:17.95) of juniors Phil Perkins and Matt Bledsoe and freshmen Damon Thompson and Bryson Fergison was fifth, with Perkins finishing eighth in the 800 (2:04.72) and Thompson in the top 20 of the 1,600 (5:00.49).

Senior Jeff Deutsch's 11-foot pole vault was good for seventh place, while his sister -- sophomore Kim -- was ninth in the same event by clearing seven feet.

The Lady Owls had solid performances in the long jump, with freshman Susan Skogsberg (14-9.75) 11th out of 26 entries and sophomore Whitney Kelly (12-8.75) 22nd.

The Marshall team is scheduled to participate in a small meet today at Chillicothe.