May 27, 2006
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -
Illinois State's Bronco Meeks clocked his best 800-meter time of the season in the finals at the NCAA Regional Meet on Saturday, but it was 11 tenths of a second shy from securing him an automatic spot in the national championship meet next weekend. Meeks time of 1:49.25 was good for sixth place and now the Redbird senior waits for a potential at-large berth.
"Bronco just ran his heart out and gave everything he had," said assistant coach Chris Bailey. "He came up a little short, but you can't say it was because a lack of effort. Sometimes in athletics that's just the way it is, now we just have to sit back and keep our fingers crossed that he will make it into the field for the national meet."
The race was won by Notre Dame's Thomas Chamney with a time of 1:48.86, which proved to be highly competitive, as there was only a half of a second separating the field between first and seventh place. Meeks returned to the track for the men's 4x400-meter relay. As the anchor leg, Meeks was joined by DeAndre Tillman, Geoff Houtman and Maxwell Mkwezalmba. The quartet logged a time of 3:09.66 and finished in 11th place.
Laura Kennedy's NCAA Championship chances were lost after the senior clocked her slowest time of the year in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase. Kennedy, who stumbled on the first water jump, finished with a time of 10:51.28 and placed 15th.
"Heading into the first water jump, she was in the top five and in great position," Bailey said. "There were 18 runners in the race, so there was a little pushing and shoving, and she was a victim of that. She went straight down in the water and that just killed her chances. It was just a bad break. She is obviously disappointed, but she had a great career at Illinois State and has a lot of accomplishments to be proud of."
ISU's women's 4x100 relay team of Anna Lovell, Cherise Devers, Kyndra Curtin and Devon Williams settled for seventh place in their final, as the Redbirds topped their preliminary mark with a time of 45.49 seconds. In the women's 4x400, Lovell and Devers paired with Andrea Mosher and Brianna Officer. The Redbird foursome finished in 12th place with a time of 3:42.27.
Seniors Mark Jackson and Derek Sargent were the only field competitors for the `Birds. Sargent claimed 10th place for ISU in the men's javelin with a toss of 203 feet and one inch. Jackson launched the shot put 54 feet and 4.75 inches and finished 13th overall.
