The Illinois State track and field team can add four more names to its list of NCAA Mid-East Regional qualifiers after Saturdays competition at the Big Blue Classic on the campus of Eastern Illinois.
The 4x100 relay team of Cherise Devers, Lian Lucas, Lindsey Arnold and Lyn Cox not only hit the regional mark with a first place time of 45.20, but they also established a new school record, beating the previous mark of 45.57, set in 1995. Head coach Elvis Forde spoke proudly of the team afterwards.
All season weve been trying to find out the best group for that event, and I think we found that today, Forde said. We went with a veteran group of athletes who performed very well today. The baton exchanges were terrific, but well continue to work hard and hopefully get even better from here.
Under sunny skies and comfortable temperatures, the Redbirds took advantage of the warm weather and had another successful weekend according to Forde.
We performed quite admirably, Forde said. We took advantage of the conditions that were given to us and we went out and competed like were capable of. Theres still room for improvement over these next three weeks, but Im happy with where the teams are at right now.
The womens 100-meter dash had two Redbirds at the top as Cherise Devers (11.93) and Lyn Cox (11.94) finished first and second respectively. In the 400-meter dash, Lucas was fourth with a time of 56.49.
The 4x400 relay team of Lucas, Kyndra Curtin, Arnold and Devers just missed the regional qualifying mark with a first place time of 3:43.48.
On the mens side, Brian Krantz had another stellar day after a personal best in the hammer on Friday. He placed second in the discus with a throw of 168-2, while Rhett Hillard won the shot put with a personal best throw of 59-9. Hillard also set a new school record with his performance in the shot put, topping the old mark of 59-6 1/2 set by Bruce Ewen in 1983.
Bronco Meeks again showed why he is becoming one of the rising stars in the middle distance events, taking first in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:50.67.
We count on the throws squad quite a bit in our program. I dont expect anything less than their best and thats what weve been getting, Forde said. Bronco also had a terrific day. He continues to get better every week,
The Redbirds return to action next Saturday when they travel to Nashville, Tenn., for the Vanderbilt Invitational.
