Tori Gaumer finished second in the heptathlon and fourth in the pole vault with a school record-breaking mark of 11-5 3/4 as the Illinois State womens track team sits in fifth place after day two of the 2003 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. On the mens side, led by a second-place finish in the triple jump by JaRod Tobler with a regional-qualifying mark of 49-11 1/4, the 'Birds are tied for third with Southern Illinois
Wichita State sits on top in the men's rankings with 77 points followed by Indiana State with 36. SMS leads the women with 55 points and Indiana State is in second with 49 points followed by Northern Iowa (44), Wichita State (34), ISU (19), Bradley (9), Southern Illinois (4) and Drake (3).
I think Tori had an outstanding day, Redbird head coach Elvis Forde said. She realized that she can have a good performance and I think her experience from this year will mean she is better off for next year.
She has the drive and determination and her school mark in the pole vault helped with the teams performance, Forde said. We expect a lot from her, with her competing in seven events in two days, and she came out and performed well.
Cherise Devers qualified in the womens 200 meter dash with a time of 24.21 and the womens 100-meter dash while Andrea Black and Lauren Ritt also qualified in the 800 meters. Dan Tripp, Bronco Meeks and Miklos Konkoly will run in the mens 800 meter final on Saturday as well.
Lindsey Arnold qualified for the finals of the 400-meter dash with a personal best time of 56.51 and Mosher qualified for the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:00.41.
Laura Kennedy placed fourth in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 11:24.43 while John Shaffer placed fifth on the mens side, running in rain which started before the last event of the evening.
In field events on the day, Taylor Carbaugh placed 10th in the discus while Melanie Zimmerman was fifth in the triple jump. Robin Whalen also placed in the pole vault, finishing sixth. Behind Tobler in the triple jump, Chivas Hemphill placed fourth.
Forde was impressed with the amount of athletes that qualified for the finals on Saturday, which begins with the high jump at 1 p.m., and concludes at 9:05 p.m. with the 4x400 relay.
The most important thing to come out of today was the amount of people we have going to the finals tomorrow, Forde said. We had a lot of qualifiers, especially on the womens side and they deserve to be in that position.
JaRod really came out and jumped well today as well as Chivas, Forde said. It is not over and we have a long way to go but at the same time, the athletes are ready for tomorrow. Hopefully we can jump right in, score some more points and finish strong.
A complete set of results is available at www.siusalukis.com.
