April 4, 2007
NORMAL, Ill. -
After spending the previous weekend out of competitive action, the Illinois State track and field team will renew its spring slate when the Redbirds travel to both Eastern Illinois and Southeast Missouri State for competitions this weekend. Members of the men's and women's distance squads and women's heptathletes will head to Charleston, Ill., for the Big Blue Classic which begins on Thursday, while the remaining members will travel to Cape Girardeau, Mo., for the SEMO Gatorade Classic on Friday and Saturday.
Head coach Elvis Forde is excited to be heading back into competition, feeling the last few weeks of training have served the `Birds well.
"I think the past couple of weeks our athletes have had some great training sessions," said Forde. "They have been showing us some things during practice, which makes our staff optimistic heading into this weekend. That effort should transfer into some good performances, plus they have been given adequate time to rest and are ready to really get going into the chunk of the outdoor schedule.
"We think those things will play a part in seeing some improvement in times and performances. Obviously, the weather is also going to be a factor, but it is something we cannot control. If we see the effort from the athletes as well as the technique and form, we will know that there have been improvements."
Men's distance runners freshmen Jordan Anderson and Scott Krapf will compete at the Big Blue Classic during Friday's scheduled events, along with women's runners sophomore Natalie Scatena and freshman Kim Ebbesen. The foursome will enter their respective 10,000-meter races, with junior Frannie Epps and freshman Morgan Schaefer competing in the women's heptathalon.
"The 10,000-meters is a very long event," said Forde. "Looking at it from (head cross country and Assistant track) coach Bovee's perspective, he is trying to get those four experiences in the event before the conference championships to see if those athletes are ready for that kind of grind. Frannie and Morgan are also competing in the heptathalon, which we want to get them an event of that magnitude before the conference championships as well."
The majority of both the men's and women's teams will be traveling to Cape Girardeau, where Forde and the rest of the staff will be looking for solid performances as well as reaching regional qualifying marks.
"The bulk of our team will be heading down to Cape Girardeau this weekend," Forde said. "We will definitely be looking for some good performances from everyone while we are competing down there. I expect some good things from our throwers, who have backed off their normal training regimen in order to begin to make some headway into qualifying for regional competition. We will be taking a close look at the goals we have set out in regards to reaching those regional qualifying marks, and that would be great to see some of those goals happen."
Sophomore Samantha Springer leads the group of regional-qualifying hopefuls on the women's side, as she was a top point scorer at the Redbirds' opening spring meet two weeks ago in Carbondale, Ill. Sprinters Devon Williams and Anna Lovell will also try to reach the regional qualifying marks in the 100 and 400-meter dashes as well as sophomore Kim Smudde in the 800-meters.
After battling injuries at the end of the indoor season, junior Alex Straughn and sophomore Samuel Watts will return to competition in the jumps, along with TJ Fakehinde. Junior Geoff Houtman is another potential regional qualifier who has been running well in practice and will be expected to perform well in the 800-meters.
The Big Blue Classic begins with the multi-events at 2 p.m. at O'Brien Stadium on Thursday. The 26th Annual Gatorade Track Classic begins Friday with the hammer throw for men and women at the Abe Stuber Track and Field Complex.
