The Missouri Valley Conference announced Tuesday that sophomore middle distance runner Jeremy Doherty was named the male track athlete of the week for his performance Saturday at the Redbird Classic.
Doherty wowed the home crowd with his 1500-meter run performance. He managed a regional-provisional mark with his time of 3:47:83, two seconds better than the No. 2 finisher.
Assistant track and field coach Chris Bailey felt that hitting the regional time was very important heading into the Drake Relays this weekend and MVC Championships in May.
He got the regional mark and now he can focus on training and getting prepared for some of the other big meets, Bailey said. He got the fast heat at Drake in the 1,500 and the pressure is off for him to hit the regional mark. He can go and have fun and compete.
Doherty competed at the Texas Relays two weeks ago, finishing second in the 1500, but just missed the qualifying time by a second.
Jeremy was a little disappointed that he didnt get the regional time, Bailey said. At the time, it was a lifetime best for him and I told him we cant be disappointed about it. Hes now hit that mark and we can prepare for other meets.
Doherty and the rest of the Illinois State track and field squad head to Des Moines, Iowa for the Drake Relays on April 22-24.
