Illinois State track and field head coach Elvis Forde continued his quest toward building a championship program Tuesday with the signing of Taiwo Sodeyi.
The St. James, Barbados native will have four years of eligibility and becomes immediately eligible to compete with the Redbirds. Sodeyi (pronounced Tie-WO Show-DAY-ye) comes to Illinois State having spent seven years at Harrison College in his native country. After finishing high school at Harrison, Sodeyi continued his education by spending the next two years at the University of the West Indies.
Sodeyi already has a long list of accomplishments to his credit, including setting a record in the 110-meter hurdles at the World Scholar Athlete Games, clocking a time of 15.07. Sodeyi also shined at the 2003 Pan Am Games in Barbados, placing fourth in the 110 hurdles with a time of 14.5.
In almost two seasons at Illinois State, Forde has worked hard to bring in championship-caliber athletes, and he feels Sodeyi is another step in the right direction.
Taiwo is going to help this program. Hes the type of individual that is going to excel in the classroom and on the track, Forde said. Hes going to be one of the conferences best. Hes got the tools to succeed.
Forde sees Sodeyi competing in the 110-meter hurdles, the 400-meter hurdles, and the 100 and 200-meter dash. According to Forde, Sodeyis strength will be in the 110 hurdles. But an adjustment to the weather is needed after Sodeyi competed in the warm climates of the Caribbean.
Hes coming from a nice warm climate to the cold here at Illinois State, Forde said. Its going to take a couple of weeks for him to get adjusted, but if hes competitive enough, hell make the adjustment rather quickly.
The Illinois State track and field team resumes the indoor portion of their season Saturday, January 17 when they travel to Champaign to take part in the Illinois Open.
