April 22, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State track and field coach Elvis Forde was impressed with his team, especially with the men's throws squad and how well they competed at the Illinois Invitational today in Champaign. With the addition of five NCAA Mideast Regional qualifiers, four of those athletes were male throwers.
"Overall today was a good day," said Forde. "The throwers were outstanding. It was good to see Derek Sargent throw over 200 feet in the javelin and get personal bests out of Bryan Chancellor and Nick Chumbley. Mark Jackson also had a great day with two regional marks."
Jackson's two regional qualifying marks came in the shot put (57-07.50) and hammer throw (182-5) with second and third-places respectively. Krantz added his name to the list in the discus (172-11) and also hit the regional mark in the hammer throw, again, which he previously met at Eastern Illinois and bested his throw this weekend. Improving his throw in the javelin by eight feet, Sargent was another regional qualifier for the `Birds.
Other notable performances on the men's team include Jeremy Johnson in the 100 and 200-meters. Johnson has been sidelined for a large portion of the outdoor season and came back today with a second-place finish in the 100-meters (10.86) and first-place in the 200 (21.96). DeAndre Tillman added a fourth-place finish in the 200 in 22.20 and also ran to a third-place finish in the 400-meters (43.32) for a season best.
In the distance events, Dan Tripp was third in the 800-meters (1:52.81), while Jeremy Doherty was seventh in the 1,500-meters (3:58.83).
Devon Williams, who is part of the 4x100-meter relay team that will participate in the NCAA Mideast Regional, also ran a regional mark in the 100-meters in 11.69. Williams' time was not only a regional mark, but a lifetime best for the sprinter. She won the 100-meters and then came back and placed third in the 200-meters in 24.67.
Another sprinter sidelined by injuries this season, Andrea Mosher, showed steps of progress today as she was second in the 400-meters in 56.04. Laura Kennedy had a stand-out performance in the 1,500-meter run, winning the event in 4:38.85.
Forde feels that Anna Lovell, who competed in the 400-meter hurdles is on pace to qualify for the regional as she finished the race in third today with a time of 1:01.70.
"Looking back on the day, we didn't have a lot of distance runners compete, but we're on our way to the conference championships," said Forde. "We're ready to have a good weekend at the Drake Relays and I feel good about what we accomplished today."
Next weekend the `Birds will head to Des Moines, Iowa to compete in the Drake Relays. Events are scheduled to begin Wednesday, April 26, and continue through Saturday.
