Feb. 15, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
Competing in their final meet before the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships, head coach Elvis Forde and members of the Illinois State track and field team head to Eastern Illinois for the Friday Night Special at Lantz Indoor Fieldhouse in Charleston, Ill. Field events will begin at 2 p.m., followed by running events, which are slated to start at 3 p.m.
The meet's field includes host Eastern Illinois, Illinois, Western Illinois and Valley members Bradley and Southern Illinois. The event also will feature junior colleges as the Friday Night Special will also serve as the Regional Qualifier for the National Junior College Indoor Championships.
The Redbirds will be traveling to Charleston with a reduced roster on both the men's and women's sides, allowing certain individuals the opportunity to rest before the Valley Championships (Feb. 23-24) while giving others the chance to get extra meet experience.
"We are planning on leaving most of the point scorers at home this weekend," said Forde. "We will have some training sessions with those individuals so that they are ready for next weekend. However, tomorrow's event will allow some of the athletes that have not been able to perform during the indoor season due to various reasons the opportunity to get an extra meet under their belts before we compete at the conference championships."
Some of the athletes that are traveling to build some additional experience on the men's team are freshman Scott Krapf and junior Brian Glaza in the distance events. Competing in the sprints for the `Birds include freshman Justin Caldwell, sophomore Luke Heinrichs, and freshman Anthony Jacks. Junior Jason Field and freshman David Kelly will also be participating in the pole vault.
Junior Anna Lovell will also be traveling with the women's team, however, will only be competing in the long jump. Sophomore Brianna Officer will be running in the sprints, while junior Whitney Beals will also be running in the middle distance events.
