The Illinois State track and field team had either a first or second place finish in nine different events at the Cougar Classic hosted by Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. It was the Birds second meet of the outdoor season.
This was a blue-collar effort by our team today, said head coach Jeff Pigg. There was nothing too flashy about our results. We just competed well and there was solid competition in nearly all the events.
Joe Drevlow, Alfie Gordillo and Harry Lattimore finished 1-2-3 in the mens hammer throw with heaves of 172-4, 170-2, and 157-4 respectively. Lattimore also finished first in the discus throw with a personal-best of 156-7, while Gordillo won the shot put with a throw of 53-6 1/4.
JaRod Tobler claimed first place in the mens long jump with a mark of 23-6 and Chivas Hemphill was the runner-up in the triple jump for the Birds with a leap of personal-best leap of 48-10 3/4. Gergely Bata finished second in the mens high jump with a 6-8 followed by teammate Andrew Jury in third also with a 6-8.
On the womens side, Nicole Blow won the long jump with a season-best mark of 17-8 1/4, while Lauren Ritt had an impressive first place finish in the 800 meter run with a time of 2:18.28. Illinois State finished 1-2-3 in the shot put with Liz Chukwudebe in first with a mark of 44-10 3/4, Latisha Johnson in second with a 43-0 1/2 and Sam Serrano claiming third with a 42-8. Serrano also finished second in the hammer throw with a heave of 155-6.
Hillary Hyland earned the top spot in the javelin throw for the Birds with a mark of 120-9. Other notable performances include: a second place finish in the womens 1500 meter run by Jen Klostermann with a time of 4:39.03, second and third place finishes in the pole vault by Tori Gaumer and Robin Whalen with a 10-6 and 10-0 respectively, and a second place finish by Keri Davis in the 400 meter intermediate hurdles with a time of 1:04.97.
In addition, the Illinois State mens and womens 4x400 meter relay teams each claimed first place at the meet.
The Redbirds continue their outdoor season next Saturday, April 20, in Champaign, Ill., at the Illinois Open.
