Jan. 30, 2009
Results
MADISON, Wis. -
Junior Morgan Schaefer finished sixth tallying a personal-best mark of 3,238 points in the pentathlon for the Illinois State track and field team at the Wisconsin Elite Invitational held inside the Camp Randall Memorial Sports Center in Madison, Wis., and hosted by Wisconsin Friday evening.
Wisconsin's Dorcas Akinniyi (3,784), Jessica Flax (3,702), Kayla McClendon (3,547), Carly Ducharme (3,483) and Egle Staisiunaite (3,472) claimed the first through fifth positions, respectively in the event.
Schaefer has consistently been improving through the first three meets and in her first attempt in the pentathlon this season set a new personal-best mark by 191 points. Five events make up the pentathlon with the 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump and the last event the 800-meter run.
Illinois State assistant track and field coach Tim Thompson was happy with Schaefer's performance against the tough competitors from Wisconsin and UW-Milwaukee.
"Morgan is happy that she set a personal-best but she is still a little disappointed," said Thompson. "She has set high goals for herself this year and she is hoping to really raise her score. She knows that she has quite a ways to go. We are hoping that she gets another opportunity to compete in the pentathlon at the Iowa State meet."
Schaefer took seventh in the 60-meter hurdles clocking in with a time of 9.98 seconds. She placed second in the high jump clearing a height of 5 feet, 2.25 inches and then set a new personal-best in the shot put with a throw of 31-07.5.
"It is difficult to set PRs (personal-records) in the pentathlon because it is a physically challenging event," said Thompson. "Usually PRs are set when they compete individually. So just to set one PR is huge, but like I said Morgan is happy but she also knows there is a lot more to improve on."
The Rolling Meadows, Ill., native rounded out her performance in the pentathlon launching a distance of 17-2.25 (seventh place) in the long jump and a fifth-place finish in the 800-meter run (2:31.23)
Sophomore Katelyn Massey competed in her first pentathlon for the Redbirds and earned an eighth-place finish with 2,609 points. Massey set a personal-best mark in the long jump launching a distance of 15-06.75 to take ninth place.
"This was Katelyn's first pentathlon and she was able to get through it," said Thompson." I think that she made a lot of positive strides. She has a couple events that she needs to improve upon, but I was proud of her. She had some strong performances and was able to put it all together."
The Illinois State men's and women's track and field team will resume action tomorrow at the Wisconsin Elite Invitational. Track events are slated to begin at 11 a.m. followed by the field events at 11:30 a.m. Live results of Saturday's meet are available by visiting GoRedbirds.com.
