Feb. 28, 2009
Results
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State track and field captured four All-Missouri Valley Conference accolades and advanced 14 into final rounds of competition following the conclusion of the first day of competition at the State Farm MVC Indoor track and field Conference Championships held inside the UNI-Dome and hosted by Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Saturday evening.
After day one the Illinois State men's team is in fourth place with 30 points, while the Redbird women are in fifth place tallying 16 points.
"Overall we fared well in all the final events today," said head coach Elvis Forde. "We are ecstatic with how we finished today. We faced tough opposition and we came out with a much stronger performance from our team than we have in years past. We had a few disappointments sprinkled in here and there, but we are expecting good things from our kids tomorrow."
Junior Morgan Schaefer earned her first All-Missouri Valley Conference accolades, tallying a personal-best 3,521 points and third-place finish in the women's pentathlon. Schaefer set two of her best marks in the first and final event, in the 60-meter hurdles and 800-meter run en route to her personal-best score in the pentathlon.
In the 60-meter hurdles Schaefer crossed the finish line in 9.44 seconds. In the final event, she edged out her competitors and sealed her third-place overall finish in the 800-meter run crossing the finish line in 2:25.27.
"Morgan finishing third in the pentathlon was exciting," said Forde. "She has worked hard all year long. Coach (Tim ) Thompson has really done a great job preparing her for this. She had to be really gritty in her last event and she pulled it out."
Matt Mroczynski (14:47.28), Scott Krapf (14:30.77) and Mike Richardson (14:57.23) scored 17 points for the Redbird men's team in the 5,000-meter run. Mroczynski and Krapf earned all-conference accolades finishing in second and third place, respectively, while Richardson placed sixth in the championships race.
"We had some good things happen in the men's 5,000," said Forde. "It was a tough race mentally and physically. It was great to see Matt run well after struggling with a few races and Scott came through for us once again. But those guys have to do it again tomorrow in the 3,000 meters we just hope they continue to do good things for us."
The Redbirds capped the night with a third-place finish and all-conference honors in the women's distance medley relay. The quartet of sophomore Michelle Brunk, senior Brianna Officer and freshmen Jil Kerkman and Aisha Praught turned in a time of 11:52.84.
In the men's field events, junior Nick Ragusa took fifth in the pole vault. It is the fifth time this season the Naperville, Ill., native has cleared his career-best height of 16-0.75.
In the long jump, senior Samuel Watts launched a distance of 23-8 to finish fifth and sophomore Chris Kirtz took seventh with a personal-best jump of 23-5.25. Watts also qualified for the finals of the 60-meter dash, turning in a personal-best time of 6.93 in the semi-final round.
On the women's side, senior Samantha Springer finished seventh in the weight throw launching a distance of 55-2.25.
The first day of the MVC Indoor Championships was composed largely of preliminary competition on the track, with the following athletes setting themselves up for strong showings in Sunday's finals.
Senior Megan Thompson, a 2008 all-conference 60-meter hurdler, will compete in the finals of the hurdles. Thompson clocked a 8.89 in semi-finals of the hurdles turning in a seventh-place finish. Freshman Josh Pope finished fourth in the men's 60-meter hurdles turning in a personal-best time of 8.39.
Sophomore Meaka Brents turned in a personal-best time of 7.61 in the 60-meter dash finishing fourth in the semi-finals. Brents will look to turn in her fastest time of the season Sunday, as the Redbirds look to defend its 60 meter title. ISU has won the Valley's 60 meter title four-straight year (2005-08). Brents will also be competing in the finals of the 200-meter dash.
Freshman Alia McAfee qualified for the finals in the 400- and 200-meter dashes. McAfee turned in time of 57.64 in the 400 and 25.19 in the 200. Senior Brianna Officer also advanced into the 400 championship race.
Freshman Kayode Adegoke turned in a personal-best in the 200-meter dash qualifying for the finals with a time of 22.20.
Illinois State advanced five runners in the 800-meter finals, with Steve Regan (1:54.84), John Neisler (1:54.81), Nick Geyer (1:54.99) and Mat Smoody (1:55.22) qualifying on the men's side; and Kim Smudde qualifying for the women's finals with a time of 2:12.85.
Competition begins Sunday at the UNI-Dome with the men's heptathlon at 10:30 a.m., while field events begin at 1 p.m. with the women's triple jump. The track events begin at 1:30 p.m. with the women's mile and conclude at 4:30 p.m. with the men's 4x400 relay.
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