While one half of the Illinois State track and field team battled through rain at the Drake Relays, the other half competed in similar conditions at the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Twilight Saturday evening.
The weather conditions were not very good for a track meet, but the kids competed very well considering the conditions, assistant coach Brent Chumbley said. Everyone was very committed to what they were doing.
In the womens events, Danielle Miller was champion in the high jump (5-4), while Leah Smith won the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:49.57. Teammate Diana Ainsley finished second behind Smith with a time of 4:49.77.
Mary Risius had a strong night in the jumping events, taking second in the triple jump (35-6) and third in the high jump (5-2).
The men were led by Rhett Hillard, who competed in the shot put at Drake on Friday, then drove to Edwardsville for Saturdays meet. He finished first at Edwardsville in both the hammer (175-11) and shot put (55-10 1/2).
Rhett jumped at the opportunity to compete, Chumbley said. He just loves to compete and thats a great characteristic to have.
Teammate Mark Jackson finished second in the hammer with a throw of 173-6.
Like Hillard, Pierre Woods also placed first in two events, winning the 110-meter hurdles (14.76) and the 400-meter hurdles (55.81). Casey Gantt took first in the triple jump with a leap of 48-10 1/4.
The Redbirds will have one final meet before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships as they travel to Iowa City, Iowa next Saturday for the Musco Twilight Invitational.
