Jan. 19, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
After recording two first-place finishes at Horton Field House on Saturday in a dual meet against Missouri Valley Conference foe Indiana State, sophomore sprinter Devon Williams was named State Farm MVC Female Runner of the Week. Williams and the rest of the Illinois State track and field squad will look to carry on the success from last weekend as they travel to Champaign on Saturday, January 21 to compete in the Illinois Invitational.
Williams, a native of Montgomery, Ill., won the 60-meter dash with an MVC best time of 7.60, and followed that up with another MVC best performance of 25.19 in the 200-meter dash.
Head coach Elvis Forde has been very pleased with Williams in the sprints so far this season and with how her performance is motivating her teammates.
"Devon is a young lady that is maturing very well as an athlete," said Forde. "For her sake, I just hope that she stays healthy because I think she is putting some pressure on the other sprinters in our program to make them step up. I'm very happy for her and what she's done."
Taking to the road for the first time this season, the Redbirds will compete against host school Illinois, Michigan State, Missouri Baptist, Indiana State, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Louisville. Field events will get underway at 9:30 a.m. with the women's weight throw, while running events are scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m.
Forde will use the Illinois Invitational as a way to gauge his team in the third week of competition and to begin preparing for the State Farm MVC Championships.
"We are looking forward to the challenge to really get a gauge on where we are after this weekend," said Forde. "I think that we may not be as big in terms of numbers, but I know Michigan State and Illinois have some quality athletes. This will be a good weekend for our athletes to measure up against some great competition, and it will also give us a good progress report. When we're as competitive as we are, we have to go up against some of the best and that's what this weekend is going to turn out to be."
On the men's side, Mark Jackson, who has been throwing well for the Redbirds this season, will rely on fellow teammates Blake Gish, Nick Chumbley and Joe Painter to continue stepping up in the throws. In the jumps, Forde would like to see athletes like Alex Straughn, Samuel Watts, Thomas Orr and TJ Fakehinde build off last weekend's performances.
"If we can keep doing these things well, I think it'll be a good weekend for us," said Forde.
On the women's side, Andrea Mosher, Devon Williams, Kim Smudde, Besty McDonald and Kathleen Thompson will be looked upon by Forde to really step up their game and continue to improve in order to see where they stack up. Forde feels this weekend is very critical for the athletes to continue to improve.
"Right now I'm looking for things that will constantly build our confidence level and that is very critical this time of the year," said Forde. "Although, it's going to be a good meet we don't want to lose the vision of what we are planning and looking forward to doing for the Valley Championships. This is something that we have to keep in the back of our minds and come out ready this weekend."
