Detailed Track & Field Notes 
Feb. 27, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State men's and women's track and field teams have their sights set high as they head to the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, held inside the UNI-Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa Feb. 28-March 1. The two-day event will begin each morning at 10:30 a.m. with the multi-event competition.
Both the Redbird men's and women's track and field teams are tabbed to finish fifth in the Missouri Valley Pre-Championships Coaches Poll, as announced by the league office. The men's team garnered 11 votes, while the women gathered 36.
Championship site host, and nationally-ranked No. 34, Northern Iowa is the favorite to win on the men's side tallying 35 points and five first-place votes; while Southern Illinois was selected to win the women's title with 61 points and six first-place votes.
"This is always a tough and nervous time for the staff as well as the athletes," said head coach Elvis Forde. "We will probably be right around where we placed last year. Until we can build our strength in the men's sprints and get stronger in the jumps on the women's side, we will continue to be right where we are. We hope that we have remedied the women's jump for next year with our signing class, but we are still working to find some on the sprints to compete at a high level for us."
ISU bolsters strength in the 800-meter run. With freshman Steve Regan challenging UNI's Tyler Mulder, the 2008 indoor 800 National Champion, for the title. The talented freshman from Monticello, Ill., and NCAA provisional qualifier holds the second-best time in the MVC behind Mulder.
"We are looking for solid performances across the board, and especially from our men's 800-meter runners," said Forde. "We have four guys that we expect to do very well. Steve (Regan) has been having a wonderful season in the 800, but we hope that going into conference John Neisler, Nick Geyer and Mat Smoody can all come in and run faster.
"We know Steve is capable of winning, but he faces UNI's Tyler Mulder, who was a NCAA All-American last year. But a freshman like Steve doesn't have anything to lose and has everything to gain and I believe that he can perform well. I don't want to put any extra pressure on him, but if you are a competitive person you need to believe that you can win. I don't believe in going to the championship believing in anything less than that."
The Redbird men enter the championship with the Valley's fastest distance medley relay time (9:52.63). Senior Mike Richardson and junior Scott Krapf are also title contenders in both the 3,000- and 5,000-meter runs.
On the women's side, Redbird freshman Tori Ziegler owns the Valleys top mark in the shot put, while sophomores Tia Harvey and Meaka Brents look to be title contenders in the sprint events.
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