Feb. 22, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
As the 2006-2007 indoor track and field season comes to a close, the Illinois State track and field team will compete at the highly anticipated 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships in Carbondale, Ill., on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 23-24. Southern Illinois serves as the host for this year's event, as participants will compete at the SIU Recreation Center.
Both the Redbird men's and women's teams finished fifth in the pre-championship polls, voted on by the league's head coaches. The women totaled 36 points, while the men had 10 points. The nationally-ranked Northern Iowa men's team finished first in the men's poll, garnering 36 points and claiming all six first-place votes. Wichita State also received all eight first-place votes on the women's side, a unanimous selection by finishing with 64 total points.
Though the `Birds were picked to finish in fifth on both the men's and women's sides, head coach Elvis Forde is optimistic heading into competition.
"We are going into the championships with a lot of optimism," said Forde. "We are especially optimistic on the women's side, because they have been able to stay the course and perform well. Devon Williams will be carrying to load for our women's team, as we expect her to excel in the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes. Anna Lovell will also shoulder some of the weight for the women. It seems that she has become the `work horse' of the program."
Williams holds the fastest times in the Valley in both the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes. The Oswego, Ill., native also holds the Illinois State and Missouri Valley Conference record in the indoor 60-meter dash, finishing first place in 7.43 seconds at the 2006 Valley Championships, garnering her all-conference honors in the event. Lovell has the third-fastest times in both the 60-meter and 400-meter dashes and is a favorite to capture all-conference in honors in each event.
Competing in her final competition as a Redbird, senior Betsy McDonald will be another athlete the women's squad will look to for a strong performance. McDonald is expected to challenge for the title in the mile run, as the Neenah, Wis., native owns the second-fastest time in the Valley this season. Junior Suzy Turner will be another Redbird to watch in the distance events, along with sophomore Kristin Brinkman in the pole vault and Frannie Epps and Samantha Springer in the throwing events.
"Our women's squad is going to be small in terms of numbers, but the quality is good," said Forde. "We are going to look forward to our athletes to have some huge performances, in light of the limited numbers."
On the men's side, the sprinters will be looked to carry most of the point-scoring burden after illnesses and injuries have hurt other areas. Sophomore Sam Watts and junior Kelley Anderson will need to put up high finishes in the 60-meter dash, while Watts, DeAndre Tillman and Maxwell Mkwezalamba are the Redbirds' top performers in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes.
"We would like to see Watts, Anderson, Tillman and Mkwezalamba in the finals on Saturday," said Forde. "They will really have to treat Friday night as the last night of competition because we have to get back on Saturday in order to stand a chance at placing high."
Freshmen Scott Krapf and Jordan Anderson are two to watch in the distance events, with Anton Walczak, Bryan Chancellor, Blake Gish and Joe Painter competiting in the throwing events.
Multi-event competition will kick off the championships on Friday, with the first event slated to start at 9 a.m. Field events will begin at 11 a.m. with the women's pole vault. Track events will begin at 5 p.m.
