Feb. 11, 2006
Complete Results
NORMAL, Ill. -
Rounding out the second day of competition at the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa, Illinois State's Devon Williams and Jeremy Doherty recorded two of the top finishes at the meet for the Redbirds.
Running 7.55 seconds in the prelims of the 60-meter dash, Williams advanced to the finals of the event eventually taking sixth place in 7.57. Fellow teammates Lian Lucas (7.81) and Kyndra Curtin (7.87) placed 26th and 35th respectively.
Doherty topped his finish in the mile at the Hoosier Relays, finishing this weekend with a time of 4:06.74. Bronco Meeks also recorded a season-best in the 800-meters with a time of 1:50.28 for 12th place. Also in the distance events, Mike Richardson turned in a time of 8:33.14 in the 3,000-meters.
In the sprinting events on the men's side, Jeremy Johnson advanced to the finals of the 60-meter dash to take 14th place in 6.98.
Head track and field coach Elvis Forde was pleased with his team's performance.
"We had a great track meet overall," said Forde. "We had some outstanding performances over the course of the weekend."
T.J. Fakehinde's jump of 6-04.25 in the high jump earned him a 16th place finish in the event, while Alex Straughn jumped 48-07.50 in the triple jump.
In the 400-meter dash, Andrea Mosher clocked in at 56.56 for 20th place. Brianna Officer also competed with Mosher recording a season-best time of 58.50.
Betsy McDonald was the only Redbird to compete in the mile taking 18th place in a season-best time of 4:59.09. She took nearly two seconds off her previous best time. In other distance events, Kimberli Smudde placed 13th in the 800-meter run in 2:09.62, placing her at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference Best List. Her time in the event was five seconds faster than she has run all season. Whitney Beals also competed in the 800-meters, clocking in at 2:14.94 for a season-best.
Suzy Turner's time of 10:12.10 in the 3,000-meters earned her a 29th place finish and a season-best time, while teammate Kathleen Thompson turned in a time of 10:20.27, adding to the list of season-bests.
The women's 4x400-meter relay team of Lucas, Smudde, Mosher and Anna Lovell placed 10th in the event just falling short of the school record with a season-best time of 3:45.51. The men's 4x400-meter relay team of Johnson, Geoff Houtman, DeAndrea Tillman and Maxwell Mkwezalamba recorded a top time of 3:17.88.
"After this weekend's performance we'll take the next two weeks of practice to polish up and get ready for the MVC championships," said Forde.
Many of the athletes that competed this weekend at the Iowa State Classic will take next weekend off to prepare for the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships, however some of the Redbird track and field athletes will travel to Charleston, Ill. to compete in the Friday Night Special at Lantz Fieldhouse.
