Jan. 12, 2008
NORMAL, Ill. -
Despite two top-finishes by senior Devon Williams on the day the Illinois State men's and women's track and field teams fell to Indiana State in a dual meet on Saturday, Jan. 12. The Redbird women were defeated by Indiana State in a dual meet, 77.5 - 71.5, while the men's team lost, 80-65 to the Sycamores inside Horton Field House. Williams led both Redbird teams' with top finishes in the 60-meter dash (7.62) and in the 200-meter dash (25.55).
Head coach Elvis Forde was pleased with his team's performance and hopes that the men and women can continue to build upon their experiences. Forde was especially pleased with women's sprinter Williams and sophomore men's distance runner Scott Krapf.
"We expect a lot from Devon and it was great that she could get the double win," said Forde. "We saw some other promising things from our high jumpers and hopefully our sprinters and distance runners can continue to get stronger as the year progresses."
In his first appearance of the 2008 indoor track and field season, Krapf recorded a first-place finish with a time of eight minutes, 40.44 seconds in the 3,000-meter run. Seniors Anton Walczak and Bryan Chancellor placed first and second, respectively, in the weight throw, while also recording personal-best throws of 57-06.5 and 57.05.50 feet.
"On the men's side of things I think Indiana State really had more depth than us," said Forde. "With that said I also believe that the most outstanding performance of the day came from Scott Krapf. I think that the way that he ran the 3,000-meters today really puts him at an advantage to have an outstanding season and I just hope that he continues to stay healthy."
Other strong Redbird men's performances were senior DeAndre Tillman's second-place finish in the 400-meter dash (49.96) and a variety of strong performances in the field events. Senior Alex Straughn placed first in the triple jump recording a distance of 48 feet while freshman Drew Holl claimed his first top-finish as a Redbird in the high jump as he reached a height of 6-04. In the shot put the Redbirds took the top-four spots and were led by senior Nick Chumbley (49.01).
On the women's side of competition senior Suzy Turner placed first in the mile with a time of 4:14.55 and also recorded a second-place finish for the Redbird women in the 3,000-meter run (10:35.65). Freshman Amanda Albrecht was a strong performer in the women's jumping events as she placed second with a personal-best distance of 35-05.75 ft. in the triple jump and recorded a first-place finish in the high jump (5-04). Junior Samantha Springer recorded a first-place finish in the shot put, throwing a distance of 41-02.50.
"Our performances today are not going to reflect how we did in December (at the Redbird Open) simply because you cannot compare the four days of training that we had before today to the three months of training that we had leading up to the Redbird Open (Dec. 8), said Forde. "Overall the meet was competitive and it showed us what we have to do the rest of the year in terms of how we can be the best team possible."
The Redbirds will host the Redbird Invitational Saturday, Jan. 19 in Horton Field House. The meet is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.
