Complete Track & Field Notes 
Jan. 15, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's and women's track and field teams hit the ground running in 2009, as both squads are set to take on Indiana State in a dual meet Friday inside the Indiana State Arena at 5 p.m. CST. The Redbirds will compete for the next six weekends leading up to the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships (Feb. 28-March 1).
Friday's meet will mark the fifth-straight year that Illinois State and Indiana State have competed against each other in a dual meet format. The Illinois State women's track and field team has not been able to pull out a win against Indiana State since the meet began in 2005, and the Redbird men captured their only win in 2006.
Leading up to the conference championships, head coach Elvis Forde will evaluate each athlete to determine who is worthy and ready to compete at the MVC Championships.
"The first couple of meets are an elimination process," said Forde. "We want to give everyone the opportunity to compete during the indoor season. By the end of January, we hope to have a pretty good feel for what our conference team is going to look like.
The Redbirds have only one competition under their belts coming off winter break, but have had almost two weeks of practice leading up to the meet.
"At this point in time, we are in pretty good health, and that is a good thing, since we had three weeks off over the break," said Forde. "We have had about 10 days to prepare, so that will help us. One thing that we have seen from the athletes this year is that they did not come back to school race ready, which is expected, but they have come back more ready than any other time I have been here coaching. I think they sense they have a good group, and in order to be successful, they are going to have to take care of the things that we cannot always control when they are at home."
The Redbird distance runners will be competing for the first time since their last cross country meet in November. Sophomore Matt Mroczynski, who finished as the runner-up at the 2008 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship (Nov. 1.) covering the 8K course in 24:43.22, will look to see if he can translate his cross country season onto the track in the 3,000-meter run.
Sophomore Michelle Brunk, will look to lead the women's distance group into action for the first time this season. Brunk was the first Redbird to cross the finish line at The Valley conference championships where she posted a personal-best time of 18:09.46 for a 10th-place all-conference finish in the 5K race. Brunk is also a returning all-conference performer in the outdoor 800-meter run; she will be competing in the mile for Illinois State Friday.
"I always believe that the distance runners are going to be ahead of everyone else when they come back from the break," said Forde. "They are not necessarily going to run faster, but they are usually more prepared than the sprinters, jumpers and throwers, and that happens for a couple of reasons. For one, they are still able to get in miles over the break, while for some of our other athletes, it is harder for them to go somewhere to get in a hurdle or jump session. They can still go to the gym and work out but they don't have the necessary facilities. The distance runners always come back a little more prepared, but we expect that."
