April 29, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
Defending his title in the 800-meters at the 97th Annual Drake Relays, Illinois State's Bronco Meeks once again won the title in the 800-meters.
Meeks won the event in a season-best time of 1:49.58, which is also an NCAA Regional qualifying mark.
Head coach Elvis Forde couldn't have been more happy with Meeks' performances over the weekend.
"It's very special to be an individual champion at the Drake Relays," said Forde. "Bronco had some very outstanding performances this weekend in the 800-meters and the 4x4. I'm very happy with how he competed."
The `Birds also brought home a third-place finish by the women's 4x100-meter relay team. Devon Williams, Anna Lovell, Cherise Devers and Lian Lucas teamed up to run a season-best 45.44. Lauren Maul added a fourth-place finish for Illinois State in the high jump with a jump of 5-07.00.
Jeremy Doherty recorded a fourth-place finish, as well, in the 1,500-meter run, also with a season-best of 3:50.29.
DeAndre Tillman, Geoff Houtman, Maxewll Mkwezalamba and Meeks also earned a spot at the NCAA Mideast Regional in the 4x400-meter relay, as the squad ran a season-best time of 3:09.65. The`Birds shaved nearly five seconds off their previous best in the relay.
In other relays, Kyndra Curtin, Brianna Officer, Andrea Mosher and Whitney Beals placed 10th in the sprint medley in a time of 4:01.00. The men's squad also put together a sprint medley with Jeremy Johnson, DeAndre Tillman, Maxwell Mkwezalamba and Dan Tripp. Turning in a time of 3:27.84, the men's relay took eighth place.
Betsy McDonald led off the 4x1600-meter relay, with teammates Laura Kennedy, Kathleen Thompson and Suzy Turner. Their time of 20:35.88 was good enough for another eighth-place finish.
Performances and exposure to the Drake Relays were key this weekend.
"We had a good weekend," added Forde. "Betsy and Laura ran two really good legs on the 4x1600-meter relay. Overall it was good. I was also glad we were able to get some freshman up here and let them experience the Drake Relays."
Those athletes who have been bothered by injuries and competed this weekend at Drake will most likely take next weekend off to get ready for the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships in two weeks. However, some of the Redbird track and field squad will travel to the Billy Hayes Invitational on Friday and Saturday, May 5-6.
