March 22, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Alabama Relays capped off a warm week of Spring Break training and competition for the Illinois State track and field team. However, weather conditions in Illinois have made it difficult for the team to get outdoors and continue that solid training, but head coach Elvis Forde and his team are excited to get to Southern Illinois and compete in the Saluki Spring Classic this weekend.
"The weather was so nice in Alabama that we were really able to take advantage of it," said Forde. "Being able to train twice a day was critical. It really makes a difference when you have seven to 10 days to focus only on track and that's all you do. The amount of work that we got in was of great value and it showed off in our first meet, but being back home has put a bit of a dent in our training and we'll just have to be patient."
The Redbird's second outdoor meet of the season is scheduled to begin Friday, March 24 at 1 p.m. Friday's events will only include the men's and women's hammer throw, while the remainder of the field events will be contended Saturday morning at 10 a.m., with running events beginning at 11 a.m.
After a strong performance at the Alabama Relays, freshman Kimberli Smudde will be taking the weekend off to nurse an injury. Last weekend, the 800-meter runner took first-place in the event in 2:10.21. Jeremy Johnson turned in two sixth-place performances, in the 100 and 200-meter dashes, but will sit this weekend out as well. Distance runners Brian Glaza and Jeremy Doherty will also take the weekend off to recover.
"Some very key athletes will not be making the trip with us to Carbondale," said Forde. "We want to make sure they get healthy before we put them back on the track. We hope that taking time off this weekend will aide them in getting better and help them get ready for the remainder of the season."
Hoping to build off their performances from last weekend, Samantha Springer and Taylor Carbaugh are expected to contend for top spots in the throwing events. Forde also expects the sprint and distance squads to pick up where they left off from the first meet of the season and continue to improve each weekend.
On the men's side, middle distance runners Bronco Meeks and Geoff Houtman will try to find their groove and the sprint squad will have a chance to step up and perform well.
The Redbirds should have a strong showing in the field events with Mark Jackson and Brian Krantz, while Derek Sargent will try to top his performance from last weekend in the javelin. Sargent threw 200-09 to take first-place, while teammate Darren Price was fifth.
"I know at this point we're all excited to get back to competing and continue what we started last weekend," said Forde.
