Gergely Bata placed third in the high jump at the 2003 NCAA Mideast Track and Field Regional, advancing to the NCAA Championships, Friday as members of the Illinois State track and field teams competed in the prestigious event hosted by Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio.
Bata's jump of 6-11 3/4 placed him third in the event while freshman Andrea Mosher qualified for the finals of the women's 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.56. The finals will be run on Saturday evening.
Joe Drevlow threw the hammer 195-7, which was a career-best performance but it wasn't enough to place for an outright invite to the national championships being held in Sacramento, Calif., in June. He is still on the bubble however, with the selection of additional regionally-ranked athletes to be invited to the meet. That selection will be decided Sunday night.
Other notable performances by the Redbirds included Jeremy Doherty in the 3000 (3:53.55), Miklos Konkoly in the 800 meters 1:53.04) and Latisha Johnson in the shot put (48-10).
Chivas Hemphill and JaRod Tobler are scheduled to compete in the jumps on Saturday along with Rhett Hillard in the men's shot put. Mosher will run in the finals and the women's 4x400 relay will wrap-up the regional.
"Based on our performances, we have to be happy with what the athletes have done here so far," head coach Elvis Forde said. "We had a very high level of competition here and the mental and physical strain of competing took its toll.
"It is a different caliber meet," Forde continued. "We are extremely proud of Gergely and Andrea and all the athletes for making it this far."
