Dec. 5, 2009
Complete Results
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State's Kayode Adegoke and Meaka Brents were both dual winners Saturday, when the Redbirds opened the 2009-10 indoor track and field at the Early Bird Open with wins in 17 of the day's 28 events inside historic Horton Field House.
"I've been here for eight years now and today was very special," ISU head coach Elvis Forde said. "Not so much for the wins in certain events, but for the effort that was put in by so many of the athletes today. It made me believe even more that we are going to have a very special track season."
On the men's side, Adegoke pulled off a double with wins in the 60-meter dash (7.06) and the 200-meter dash (22.70). In the 400-meter dash, juniors Dan Murphy (51.30) and Tyler Perna (51.66) took first and second place, respectively, before combining with teammates Yosef Tewolde and John Niesler to win the 4x400 meter relay in a time of 3:23.42. Tewolde also took home top honors in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:56.07, followed by freshman Brian Griffith (1:56.12) and Neisler (1:56.79) in second and third places, respectively.
ISU also performed well in the field, with junior high jumper Drew Holl stealing the show. He brought the crowd in attendance to its feat, as he won the event with a NCAA provisional-qualifying jump of 7'00.50". In the long jump, the Redbirds took first and second place with senior Samuel Watts leading the way with a leap of 23'00.75" and sophomore Ben Pratt right behind with a jump of 22'01". The `Birds excelled in the triple jump, as sophomore Tyler Knight won the event with a leap of 47'02.25. Pratt finished second with a leap of 46'01.25, with freshman Julian Mayfield in third (45'03.75") and sophomore Kris Mizel in fourth (44'02.50").
Brents, a 2009 indoor all-conference runner, led the way on the women's side and pulled off a double of her own with first-place finishes in both the 60-meter dash (7.61) and the 200-meter dash (25.71). Junior Tia Harvey finished in second place in the 60-meter dash with a time 7.68 and the sophomore duo of Alia McAfee (25.77) and Hanna Query (26.40) finished second and third in the 200-meter dash, respectively.
In the 400-meter dash, ISU took the top four spots as freshman Sade Sealy placed first with a time of 57.42 followed by sophomores Jil Kerkman (1:00.90), Breana Staples (1:01.94) and freshman Kayla Houston (1:02.42). Later, the team of Harvey, Amanda Albrecht, Brents and Sealy cruised to a victory in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:57.33. Finally, in the mile run junior Lisa Devereux finished second with a time of 5:36.85.
The Redbirds controlled the throwing events in the field, as sophomore Tori Ziegler won the shot put with a throw of 47'10.50" and freshman Brittany Smith finished second with a heave of 47'03". In the weight throw, the Redbirds took the top three spots as Smith earned her first collegiate victory with a throw 55'00.75". Ziegler finished second with a throw of 51'04.50" to complete a solid day and freshman Martha Shepard was third with a toss of 48'03.50".
The Redbirds also finished 1-2-3 in the pole vault, with sophomore Rachelle Harbert taking first place with a new personal-best vault of 10'11.75". She was followed by freshmen teammates Rachel Kreuzer (10') and Emily Swift (9'00.25") in second and third places, respectively. In the long jump, freshman Hilary Hobler won her first collegiate competition with a jump of 17'03.25" while fellow freshman Jen Jenkins placed third with a leap of 16'10.50". Rounding out the day's winners was junior all-Valley performer Albrecht, who dwarfed the competition with a jump of 5'07.75" to win the high jump.
"Today's outcome has to make us feel good," Forde said. "We know that in all the years we've done this meet, these are some of the best performances we've had at this point in the season.
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