Competing at home is starting to become a familiar occurrence for the Illinois State track and field team as they take part in Saturdays Redbird Invite at Horton Field House, the second of four on-campus meets this season.
Field events get underway at 10 a.m. with the womens weight throw, womens long jump, mens high jump and mens pole vault, while the running events begin at 10:30. Joining the Redbirds are Valparaiso, University of Illinois-Chicago and St. Joes College in Indiana.
Between 1998 and 2003, the Redbirds competed in only a handful of home meets. Last season, the team took part in three meets on their home turf, including the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships. This season, after competing in the Redbird Open in December and this weekends invite, Illinois State will have two more outdoor meets on their newly renovated track. Head coach Elvis Forde is starting to see the benefits of competing in front of the home crowd.
Anytime the kids compete at home, they want to do well in front of their family and friends, Forde said. There are a lot more eyes on the athletes when they compete on their home track.
After the Redbird Open in December, the team had a month-long break for Christmas before getting back into competition on Jan. 15. What Forde has been most impressed with is that his team came back well conditioned after the break.
I was happy that many of our athletes stayed active over Christmas Break, Forde said. Were still trying to get our fitness level up, but as coaches, we are happy with where we are right now.
One athlete who has made a vast improvement this season is middle distance runner Joe Marcin. Marcin has made steady improvements in the 800-meter run and holds the third fastest time on the team (1:55.67) this season. Hes already shaved five seconds off his best time in 2004 and has finished in the top five in every meet this season.
Joe is someone who keeps working hard and continues to get better every week, Forde said. If he keeps improving, I see no reason why he wouldnt be competing at the conference championships.
On the womens side, a number of freshmen sprinters performed admirably during last weekends Badger Elite Invite, including Anna Lovell, Kyndra Curtin and Devon Williams in the 60-meter dash. Forde plans to experiment with junior hurdler Andrea Mosher by running her in the 800-meter run this weekend.
Were going to put Andrea in the 800 and see how she performs, Forde said. All in all, if we stay healthy and continue to get better every weekend, good things will continue to happen.
