Senior co-captain Sam Serrano broke her own Illinois State womens indoor record in the 20-lb weight throw and earned first place with a career-best mark of 61-7 in the first day of competition at the two-day Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships. Her previous high was 61-7 set during the 2000 indoor season.
This was a great way to start the meet, said head coach Jeff Pigg. When a senior captain earns a personal best and becomes the conference champion, it really sends a message out to the rest of the team.
Also in the womens weight throw, freshman Liz Chukwudebe was able to earn a point for the womens team with a sixth place finish on a mark of 49-1 .
In the mens 35-lb weight throw, senior co-captain Alfie Gordillo paced the Birds with a mark of 63-9 , which earned him second place. Sophomore Harry Lattimore finished in sixth for Illinois State with a mark of 55-11 .
Other notable Redbird performances from the first day include: a first place finish for freshman Gergely Bata in the mens high jump with a 6-9 , the best finish in the preliminaries of the mens 800 meter run by sophomore Miklos Konkoly with a time of 1:54.09 and a third-best finish in the same event by freshman Gabriel Cruz with a time of 1:54.28. Both Konkoly and Cruz qualified for the 800 meter run finals to be held on Saturday, February 23.
Senior co-captain Stacia Beste finished third in the 5000 meter run with a time of 17:16.85, while Robert Breit earned a second place finish in the mens 5000 meter run with a time of 14:55.15.
In addition, freshman Robin Whalen earned a career-best and a point for the womens team in the womens pole vault with a 10-11 , which was good enough for a sixth place finish. Freshman Angie Drew qualified for the finals (held Saturday) of the womens 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.00. On the mens side, DeRocco Reed also qualified for the finals with a time of 8.30.
Sophomore JaRod Tobler earned second place in the mens long jump with a career-best mark of 25-1 1/4, while junior Iheanyi Obia was sixth with a season-best mark of 23-8.
Juniors Jene Klostermann and Andrea Black both qualified for the finals of the womens 800 meter run with times of 2:17.31 and 2:20.53 respectively. Junior Alia Hoyle also qualified for the finals of the womens 60-meter dash with a time of 7.64.
Illinois State also claimed third place finishes in the men and womens distance medley relays.
At the end of the first day, the Illinois State mens team sits in first place overall, while the womens team is in fourth.
Action resumes Saturday at 11:00 a.m. with the womens triple jump and will conclude with the mens 4x400 meter relay scheduled to begin at 2:55 p.m.
