Latisha Johnson and Gergely Bata both picked up their second-consecutive Missouri Valley Conference track and field title of their career Saturday as Johnson placed first in the shot put with a toss of 47-9 and Bata was first in the high jump with a mark of 6-11 1/2 at the Valley Outdoor Championships in Carbondale, Ill.
The nice thing that happened today is our kids performed well, head coach Elvis Forde said. We have quality efforts and even though we are limited with quality athletes and we lack depth in the sprint area, we got what we needed from our athletes.
I have a positive feeling for this program coming into the summer and looking at next year, Forde said. We still arent over individually which is good but we need more depth in our program to be champions and we will reach that point.
Illinois State finished fifth on the mens side with 72.5 points and sixth on the womens side with 57 points. Wichita State won the mens competition with 198.5 points while SMS was the Valley team champion for the women with 152 points.
In sprinting events, Cherise Devers placed tied for seventh in the finals of the 100-meter dash while Pierre Woods was eighth in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles and sixth in the 400-meter hurdles. Andrea Mosher, who finished fifth in the 100-meter hurdles, placed second in the 400-meter hurdles.
In the 800 meters, Miklos Konkoly was the highest Redbird finisher, coming in third while Dan Tripp and Gabe Cruz paraded to a 5-6 finish and Bronco Meeks crossed the line in ninth place. Andrea Black and Lauren Ritt placed fifth and sixth in the same event for the women. Diana Ainsley and Betsey McDonald crossed the finish line sixth and seventh in the womens 1500 meters while Walker Eye and Jeremy Doherty placed third and fourth on the mens side.
In the field events, besides Johnsons first-place performance, Rhett Hillard was third on the mens side and Mark Jackson and Joe Drevlow placed ninth and tenth in the shot put. Tyler Gaumer tied for sixth in the pole vault.
In the 5000 meters, Allan Kipchoge placed 12th while John Shaffer was 20th, Jeremy Doherty placed 21st and Walker Eye crossed 24th. In the womens run, Laura Kennedy placed 11th followed by Betsey McDonald.
The womens 4x100 meter relay team ran the event in 46.83 and placed fourth while the mens team came in sixth. In the 4x400 relay, which capped off the evening, Illinois State placed third on the womens side with a regional-qualifying mark of 3:44.50 and the men placed sixth with a time of 3:20.79.
I felt our position could have been better in terms of a team effort, Forde said. We may not have gained points in the sprints but I couldnt have asked for more from the team and the individual efforts were outstanding.
For a list of complete results of the 2003 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, visit www.siusalukis.com.
