May 3, 2006
NORMAL, Ill. -
After defending his 800-meter title at the 2006 Drake Relays, stand-out middle distance runner Bronco Meeks was chosen as this week's State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Male Runner of the Week.
At Drake, Meeks led the race from start to finish with one goal in mind according to head coach Elvis Forde.
"To win two Drake Relay championships in a row is a tremendous accomplishment," said Forde. "I think Bronco had something to prove to himself because he had missed the regional qualifying mark several times this year and that was one of the things he wanted to get out of the way. He took command of the race from the very start and led the entire 800-meters. This honor couldn't go to a more deserving or better person."
With a time of 1:49.58, Meeks earned a spot at the NCAA Mideast Regional and also set a new season-best for himself. This weekend, he and the athletes who competed at the Drake Relays will take the weekend off and prepare for the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, May 12-14, while those who did not compete last weekend will travel to Bloomington, Ind., to compete in the Billy Hayes Invitational on Friday evening, May 5.
The invitational will only be contested on Friday with field events beginning at 4 p.m. and running events at 4:30 p.m.
Forde will use this meet as the final chance before conference to get his team prepared.
"This weekend we are taking a skeleton squad over to Indiana because these are the athletes that didn't go to the Drake Relays. This will give them a chance to hone their skills and get in another race as well," said Forde. "It's also an opportunity to take some individuals that were hurt during the course of the year to finally get an additional race before conference time comes around."
Andrea Mosher and Jeremy Johnson did compete in the Drake Relays, but they will travel with the team to Indiana to get in an additional race and give them a chance to work on a few things and be ready to go for conference. Forde knows they are both an integral part of the men's and women's squads and needs them ready for conference.
This weekend's squad will focus mainly on the technical events, such as the throws and the sprinting events. The middle distance runners ran solid races at Drake in the relays and open events and will stay home to get rested up.
"Hopefully we'll see some good things from those that are competing this weekend at Indiana that will carry over to next week," added Forde.
