May 10, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
Only two days away from the 2006 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships, head coach Elvis Forde and his team are ready to take on the challenges of the weekend's events.
The championships are scheduled to begin Friday, May 12, at 10 a.m. Multi-events will be contended Friday, while the remainder of the events will get underway at 10 a.m. Saturday, with the final events beginning at noon on Sunday, at Cessna Stadium in Wichita, Kan.
In the Pre-Championship Coaches Poll, the Redbird women were picked to finish second with 51 points, behind 2006 indoor champions Wichita State (64), who received all eight first-place votes. Missouri State was picked a close third with 49 points, while Southern Illinois (40) was chosen to finish fourth. On the men's side, Illinois State was picked to tie for fourth-place with Wichita State, while Indiana State, UNI and Southern Illinois took the top three spots.
Forde knows that this weekend is going to be a challenge and his team is going to have to fight for every point.
"The polls pretty much reflect what we expect," said Forde. "Although, it really comes down to who out-performs whom. We can't put stock in the numbers; the thing that we need to put stock in is how many athletes we qualify to the finals on Sunday."
Forde felt the second-place pick on the women's side was an accurate reflection. Based on Wichita State's roster, they have the advantage with the number of athletes entered in each event. The biggest challenge for the `Birds will be to make sure they do not become complacent and allow Missouri State and Southern Illinois to sneak into second-place.
Lian Lucas will be one of the key contributors on the women's squad, as she'll try to take home four gold medals. Lucas is the defending champion in the 100-meters and was a part of the winning 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays at the 2005 outdoor championships. At the indoor conference championships, she won the 200-meters and will look to take the outdoor title as well.
Andrea Mosher is the defending 400-meter hurdle champion and will also attempt to defend her title. Devon Williams and Anna Lovell will vie for top spots in the sprints, while Laura Kennedy and Betsy McDonald will lead the distance squad.
In the multi-events and throws, Lauren Maul, Brittney Hourd, Frannie Epps and Samantha Springer will be counted on to score valuable points in their respective events.
After a fourth-place finish at the 2006 indoor championships, the Redbird men will try to get ahead of the pack and move into the third-place spot in the conference this weekend.
"We have a certain number of guys that are really going to have to come through for us to give us a fighting chance to move ahead of the middle of the pack," said Forde. "Depth is critical in the men's competition."
Although, he's been hampered by injuries this season, Jeremy Johnson will lead the men's sprints squad. DeAndre Tillman is also expected to perform well in the 400-meters.
The only outdoor conference champion performer from the 2005 season, Bronco Meeks, would like to add conference champion in the 800-meters, again to his resume. He will also make an attempt at the 4x400-meter relay title with teammates Tillman, Geoff Houtman and Max Mkwezalamba. Dan Tripp will also be expected to score points in the distance events as well.
In the throwing events, Mark Jackson and Brian Krantz will contend for top spots, while Derek Sargent and Darren Price will compete in the javelin.
"If we hone in, cover our areas and do what we need to do, we should have a very exciting meet," added Forde.
