March 25, 2006
Complete Results
NORMAL, Ill. -
With the Illinois State women's track and field team taking first-place at the Saluki Spring Classic and the men's third, that was not the only thing head coach Elvis Forde had to be proud of. Battling the cold weather, both teams turned in personal-best marks and even regional qualifying times.
Competing in the steeplechase for the first time this season, Laura Kennedy won the event with a personal-best and regional qualifying time of 10:38.21. Kennedy was the only `Bird to reach a regional mark, but was certainly not the only Redbird to win an event.
In the throws, Samantha Springer won the discus with a throw of 150-01, while Brittney Hourd (19-10.75) was first in the long jump with a personal-best effort. Whitney Beals took top honors in the 800-meters turning in a 2:16.87. Anna Lovell had a long day competing in three events. She took third in the 400-meters, ran the second leg on the winning 4x100-meter relay team and came back to also win the 400-meter hurdles. Running with Lovell on the 4x100, Devon Williams, Cherise Devers and Lian Lucas, turned in a time of 46.58 for first. Williams also stole the show in the 100-meters in 11.95.
First-place finishes on the men's squad include Bronco Meeks (1:53.21) in the 800-meters and Olutola Fakehinde in the high jump. Fakehinde jumped 6-07.75 to win the event.
In the team standings, the Redbird women racked up a total of 147 points followed closely by Ball State with 138 points, Miami-Ohio tallied 113 points, while Southern Illinois earned 96.33 and Indiana State had 82.
On the men's side, Indiana State won the meet with 179.50 points, while Southern Illinois recorded 120. The `Birds totaled 105.50 points for third with Florissant Valley Community College earning 78 points for fourth-place.
Other notable performances for the women include Brittney Hourd's personal-best performance in the 100-meter hurdles, Betsy McDonald (4:36.60, second-place) in the 1,500-meters, Lian Lucas (12.01, second-place) in the 100-meters and Williams (25.26, second-place) in the 200.
Maxwell Mkwezalamba turned in two personal-best performances in the 200 and 400-meters. Mkwezalamba was third in the 200 in 22.06 and second in the 400-meters.
Derek Sargent didn't throw quite as far as he did in the opening weekend at the Alabama Relays, but his 186-03 performance was good enough for second-place. Dan Tripp was also second in his event, turning in a 4:00.14 in the 1,500. Geoff Houtman (1:53.66) was right behind Meeks in the 800-meters in second-place, while Brian Krantz added a third-place finish for the day in the discus throwing 159-01.
In other relay events, the men's 4x100-meter relay team of Luke Heinrichs, Alex Straughn, DeAndre Tillman and Mkwezalamba took sixth-place in 43.45. Tillman, Houtman, Mkwezalamba and Meeks made up the men's 4x400-meter relay. The foursome placed third in 3:18.56.
Overall Forde felt his team competed very well battling the frigid temperatures.
"I really thought as a whole we competed well today," said Forde. "We may have not turned in the fastest time or best-performances but we went out and beat the opponents. I'm ready to get back to practice this week and get ready for the Missouri Relays next weekend."
The Missouri Relays, in Columbia, Mo., will begin Friday, March 31 and continue on Saturday, April 1.
