April 15, 2009
NORMAL, Ill. -
Javelin thrower Tim Glover of Normal and sprinter Kyle Hunn-Andreae of Heyworth, two area track and field athletes, have signed National Letters of Intent (NLI) to continue their athletic careers and educations at Illinois State and compete on the Redbird men's track and field team.
Illinois State head track and field coach Elvis Forde's feels that it is important to recruit talented local track and field high school athletes.
"It is always critical to recruit local athletes and we are very excited to have these two become a part of our program," said Forde. "Our focus this year has primarily been on the sprints, but when we had the opportunity to recruit an athlete of Tim Glover's ability we had to go after him. I think that it was important for us to keep him at home because it says something about our program in that we are not only trying to bring in athletes from other cities and towns, we are trying to keep our own as close to home as possible; especially when they are at Tim's caliber."
Glover, who attends University High School, was coached by his father Rob Glover on how to throw the javelin, since the javelin is not an event that is thrown at Illinois high school athletic competitions. Tim Glover has been throwing the javelin at Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) events since he was little. Robert Glover threw the javelin for Illinois State over 30 years ago and still holds the ISU record with a distance of 216-2, which he achieved in 1970.
Tim Glover currently holds a personal-best throw of 203-4 and according to Illinois State assistant coach for throws Jeff Chakouian he hopes to break his father's record at Illinois State.
"The fact Tim's dad threw here and had a successful career was a big factor in his decision to come to ISU," said Chakouian. "He is in a unique situation. In talking to Tim breaking his dad's record is something that he definitely wants to do and the reality is that he could be throwing over that record this year in high school. His goal is to throw 220 and if he does that he will be one of the top three or four javelin throwers in the nation."
Hunn-Andrea is the state of Illinois' top-returning sprinter in the 100-and 200-meter dashes at the Illinois High School Association Class A level. The Heyworth, Ill., native holds personal-best performances of 10.72 in the 100 and 22.16 in the 200. Last year, he finished fourth in the finals of the IHSA championships meet in the 100 and then took seventh in the 200.
Glover and Hunn-Andrea join; Samantha Bluske (Pardeeville, Wis.), Camille Edwards (Indianapolis), Hilary Hobler (Lincoln, Ill.), Jen Jenkins (Rochelle, Ill.), Kendall Rush (Spring Valley, Ill.), Martha Shepard (Palatine, Ill.) Brittany Smith (Oak Park, Ill.), Brea Tinney (Osceola, Wis.) and Juliet Vogel (Roselle, Ill.) who have all committed to ISU for the 2009-2010 season in February.
Tim Glover
Normal, Ill. | University High School | Amateur Athletic Union | Javelin
Won eight javelin titles and broke state and regional marks in 2008 ... won and set new records at the AAU and USATF state and regional meets ... broke the AAU state record and set a personal-best in the javelin (June 7, 2008) with a throw of 203-4, to break the one-year-old state record by nearly 16 feet ... won the AAU Region 6B Track meet held at Illinois State with a throw of 190-5 and advanced to the AAU Championship meet.
Forde on Glover
"The javelin is a very unique event since it is not contested at the high school level in Illinois. Obviously, for a local kid who is pretty much from Illinois State since he is going to graduate from University High School, having him stay at home is huge for us. I think that one of his motivations and reasons for staying is that we offered him a good scholarship and he has aspirations to remove his dad's name from the record book. I don't think that Tim is going to be lacking any competition in our conference when it comes to the javelin. For the last couple of years, Wichita State has dominated the event and has had athletes throw well over 225 feet. Tim has high aspirations for himself. USA championships and NCAA qualifiers are all things that Tim wants to accomplish as well as get a Missouri Valley Conference championship."
Kyle Hunn-Andreae
Heyworth, Ill. | Heyworth High School | Sprints
Two-time Illinois High School Association (IHSA) Class A qualifier in 2007 and 2008 ... holds the state's top-returning time in the 100- and 200-meter dashes in 2009... placed fourth at the 2009 IHSA championship meet in the 100 and seventh in the 200 ... turned-in career-best performances of 10.72 in the 100 and 22.16 in the 200 ... holds school records in the indoor 55-meter dash (6.32), 100- and 200-meter dashes, 4x100-meter relay (43.79) and in the 4x200-meter relay (1:32.4) ... ended his senior indoor track and field season tied for the fifth fastest 55-meter dash performance in the state of Illinois, according to Dystat Illinois ... was named to the 2008 Pantagraph Boys Track Honor Roll in the 100 and 200.
Forde on Hunn-Andreae
"The sprints are an area of our program that we are trying to build. Kyle will be able to come in and help us in the 60, 100, and 200. He is a very strong kid and has a very quick start. With time and training, he will get even better, but he has explosiveness about him that we will benefit from. He should be considered one of the favorites to win the 100 and 200 at state this year, especially with the classes changing. Hopefully he can be the state champion and bring some more credentials when he enters our program.
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