April 23, 2009
Results
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State track and field sophomore Matt Mroczynski cruised to a second-place finish in the men's 10,000-meter run at the prestigious Drake Relays crossing the finish line in a season-best 30:35.01 on the Jim Duncan Track inside Drake Stadium Thursday evening.
Mroczynski highlighted the Redbirds performances, as he finished second and was ahead of the third-place finisher by over 40 seconds. The Pulaski, Wis., native ran a tactical race running with a pack for the first half before pulling ahead to take the lead and run the second 5,000-meters alone.
"It was a nice step forward for Matt," said assistant track and field coach Jeff Bovee. "It was a pretty warm day and the guy that won the race had a pacer for the first 5K.
"Matt ran well and tucked in through the first three miles and then broke away from the pack. During the second half of the race the warm weather was really starting to affect everyone and the race really slowed down, but Matt was able to maintain and steadily pull ahead."
Competing in her second heptathlon this season, junior Morgan Schaefer improved her personal-best tallying 4,612 points to place 10th overall. Schaefer set new personal-best marks in the 200-meter dash (26.29) and 800-meter run (2:23.35) in the multi-event. Earlier this month Schaefer won the Neil Moore Muli's title at Eastern Illinois with a score of 4,604.
"Morgan's goal was to be consistent and not worry about having one big event, but to do well throughout the competition," said Tim Thompson, Illinois State assistant coach for multi-events and jumps. "We are working on fine tuning her technique and preparing for the Valley Championships (State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championship held May 15-17). She is in a good place and I am happy with how she is running and jumping. She is confident and is mentally ready to go."
Sophomore Olivia Myers ran a personal-best in the 10,000-meter run turning in a time of 37:16.53 to place sixth. Kim Ebbesen (38:22.82) and Jess Husted (39:44.56) placed 12th and 16th, respectively.
The Redbirds continue competition at the Drake Relays tomorrow. Sophomores Amanda Albrecht and Schaefer kick off the action for ISU tomorrow in the high jump, which is slated to begin at 1 p.m.
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