The Illinois State mens throws squad dominated the shot put competition as they swept the top three places in the event at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Track and Field Outdoor Championships. The second day of competition proved to be much better than the first as Rhett Hillard, Mark Jackson and Brian Krantz went one, two and three in the event.
To win the event, Hillard threw 56-10.75 while Jackson and Krantz threw 56-8 and 56-4.50 respectively.
Head coach Elvis Forde felt that todays competition went much better than the first and was impressed with how the Redbirds dominated in the shot put.
We had a much better day today than yesterday, said Forde. The men did very well in the shot put and just dominated the whole competition. As for the women though, we didnt have such a great day. We were expecting to score points in the throws on the womens side and didnt. Not having those points will really hurt.
Brittney Hourd completed the heptathlon competition finishing third in the event with 4,673 points. Lauren Maul also took third place honors in the long jump (18-10.75) and advanced to the finals of the 100-meter hurdles that will be run on the final day of competition.
Laura Kennedy finished fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:03.50.
The Redbirds will have several members of the womens team competing on the final day of competition as they advanced to the finals in their respective events. The mens team however, due to lack of depth, will have only a few athletes competing in the finals.
The womens 100-meters will be a stacked event for the Redbirds as Lyn Cox, Lian Lucas, Andrea Lovell and Cherise Devers will all compete in the finals. Cox and Lucas also qualified for the 200-meters. Whitney Beals has come on strong nearing the end of the season and has advanced to the finals of the 800-meters. Andrea Mosher and Lindsey Arnold qualified for the 400-meters and Mosher will also look to capture the 400-meter hurdles title.
On the mens side, Kelly Anderson made the finals in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.83 while Dan Tripp and Bronco Meeks will compete in the 800-meter run.
Everything is still looking up for us, added Forde. We dont have as many men as we do women in the finals tomorrow, but things are looking good and we will have to do very well in all of our events for things to go our way tomorrow.
After twelve scored events, the Illinois State mens team is tied for fifth place with Drake with 30 points. Wichita State (59), Indiana State (48), Northern Iowa (34) and Southern Illinois (31) all have a lead on the Redbirds. On the womens side Wichita is leading the meet with 85 points, followed by Southern Illinois (78), SMS (44) and Illinois State (19).
Field events will begin at 11 a.m. for day three of competition. The 4x100-meter relay will kick off the running events at 1 p.m.
