Jan. 19, 2008
Results
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's and women's track and field teams turned up the heat against Illinois-Chicago inside a chilly Horton Field House, Saturday afternoon, as they took a combined 18 first-place finishes and had multiple personal-best performances at the Redbird Invitational.
Head track and field coach Elvis Forde is optimistic about his team's future and feels as his student-athletes continue to train, their performances will steadily continue to improve.
"Every single week our coaching staff talks to our student-athletes about showing improvement," said Forde. "Their fitness level just keeps getting better and we figure by the end of January our levels of performance will be much better in regards to where we are now.
"I think that what we are doing is working and we just have to hope that the kids continue to see themselves getting better every weekend. It is critical that they (the student-athletes) remain positive and believe in what we ask them to do each and every week."
The highlight event of the afternoon was the men's 3,000-meter run, as 16 distance runners competed in the tedious 15-laps around the 200-meter indoor track. Ben Rosario, an unattached entry, running for Big River Running Company won the race in eight minutes, 18.94 seconds. Illinois State sophomore Scott Krapf was not far behind and finished second with a person-best time of 8:26.66.
"The race today was the men's 3,000-meters," said Forde. "I think that the distance guys are really having a great carry over track season based on their performances from cross country. Krapf and Matt Mroczynski had personal records today and Mike Richardson was really close to getting a PR (personal record) as well."
The Redbird men's field events had strong performances. Senior thrower Anton Walczak threw the weight 57-08.50 for a person-best mark and a first-place finish. Senior Joe Painter won the shot put, throwing a personal record of 50-04. Freshman Drew Holl and senior Alex Straughn placed second and third, respectively as they both reached a height of 6-07.75 in the high jump.
The Redbird women's performances were highlighted by junior Samantha Springer's two personal-best marks in the weight (53-11.25) and shot put (44-00). The women's distance runners had a strong showing as freshman Michelle Brunk claimed first place in mile with a personal-best time of 5:12.58 and senior Suzy Turner won the 3,000-meters with a time of 10:19.17.
"Michelle Brunk had a great performance for us today," said Forde. "I think that Jeff Bovee (assistant distance coach) sees things in her and thinks that she is going to be a great mile runner for us. I also cannot say enough about the women's 3,000-meter runners, Suzy (Turner) did not have a personal record but she is continuing to improve and to see our freshman Sarah Glowacki and Jess Husted run PR's (personal records) this early in the season is great for them.
The Redbirds will be back in action Saturday, Jan. 26, at 9 a.m., as they head to Champaign, Ill., for the Carle Health Alliance Invite.
