Complete Track & Field Notes 
March 27, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
For the sixth-straight year, the Illinois State track and field team will open its outdoor season at the Southern Illinois Spring Classic Friday and Saturday at Lew Hartzog Stadium in Carbondale, Ill. The first day of competition will feature a limited field, as the men's and women's hammer throw compete at 3 p.m. Day two is set to begin at 11 a.m. with the field events; running events will get underway at 12:30 p.m.
The Redbirds will be competing against Missouri Valley Conference foes Southern Illinois and Bradley, as well as Southeast Missouri State, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Illinois men's track and field team.
The Redbird men and women are coming off fifth-place finishes at the 2009 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships, where they earned a combined 14 All-MVC selections. The team is look to start the outdoor season off with strong performances in its individual events, but faces a few challenges as it heads into the outdoor season.
"Starting over again always poses as a unique challenge," said head coach Elvis Forde. "I feel both the men and women are better outdoor teams, but the problems that we are facing starting off is that all of our sprinters, both male and female, seem to be under the weather, and we have not even ran in one race outdoors yet.
"Also, the weather plays a very important role in the outdoor season, and it appears that at this point in time, we are going to start the outdoor season under the same circumstances as we have over the past couple of years. We just need to get through the first couple of weekends without anyone getting hurt and that will be key to our success. Other than that, I think that we are ready to compete."
Freshman Alia McAfee will lead the women's sprint squad, competing in the 100, 200 and 4x400-meter relay for the Redbirds. McAfee ended her first collegiate indoor campaign earning all-conference recognition in the 400-meter run. Also set to get off to a strong start outdoors is senior Megan Thompson, who will be competing in the 100 and 100-meter hurdles.
Kirsten Lang, Aisha Praught and Kim Smudde will lead the charge for the distance runners. The three runners ended the season holding top-indoor marks in their individual events this season. This weekend, Lang and Praught will compete in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Last year, Lang held ISU's top performance in the steeplechase with a time of 11:03. This year, the sophomore has become one of ISU's top-performers and looks to contribute even more to the event.
Finally, Smudde looks to have gotten back on track after struggling with injuries for the past two years. The senior finished with all-conference accolades during the indoor season in the 800-meter run and looks to round out her senior track season healthier than ever.
In the women's field events, senior Samantha Springer and freshman Tori Ziegler will compete in the hammer, shot put and discus for the Redbirds. Ziegler ended her indoor freshman season as runner-up in the shot put at the Valley Championships and will look to continue that success outdoors. Springer, who is a returning all-conference discus thrower, will look to get her senior outdoor campaign off to a strong start in all three events.
Freshman Leigh Petranoff will compete in her first collegiate meet throwing the javelin. The Cranston, R.I., native was a four-time Rhode Island high school state champion.
On the men's side, the ISU men's sprint squad and hurdlers will look to get off to a fast start. Last outdoor season, the men's sprint squad was plagued with injury and a lack of depth; however, ISU has attempted to remedy this situation with freshmen Kayode Adegoke, Josh Pope and Kendric Smith.
The distance and middle distance runners look to be an area of strength for the Redbirds, returning all their runners from last year, as well as adding to their depth. Sophomore Matt Mroczynski looks to have a strong outdoor campaign finishing as an All-MVC performer in cross country and in the 3,000 and 5,000 during the indoor season.
The men's 800-meter runners also look to be a strength for the `Birds, having four runners qualify and compete in the finals of the indoor Valley Championships. Freshman Steve Regan and junior John Neisler will look to lead the group. Neisler was ISU's lone all-conference performer in the event; however, Regan held the team's best time with a NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 1:50.21.
In the field events, junior Jason Robbs will compete in the hammer throw, shot put and discus. Also looking to start his season off strong is sophomore Colin Fane, who will be competing in the hammer and shot put.
Finally, junior Nick Ragusa laid a strong foundation in the indoor season to build on his outdoors pole vault season. Clearing a personal-best height of 16-0.75 indoors, Ragusa has his sights set at a NCAA Regional qualifying performance.
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