April 25, 2009
Results
DES MOINES, Iowa -
Fighting through inclement weather the Illinois State women's 1,600-meter sprint medley relay earned a sixth-place finish at the 100th running of the Drake Relays inside Drake Stadium turning in a time of three minutes, 58.98 seconds to highlight the Illinois State track and field team's performance Saturday.
The sprint medley relay consists of four legs that run at distances of two 200-meter dashes and a 400-meter dash and 800-meter run. Illinois State's sprint medley consisted of Meaka Brents and Tia Harvey in the 200, Alia McAfee in the 400 and was anchored by Michelle Brunk in the 800.
"I was really happy with the women's performance today," said assistant coach Jeff Bovee. "They won their heat by over five seconds. Alia ran a 56.7 split in the 400 and has been consistently running better. Then Michelle ran even splits in the 800 and ran close to her PR (personal record). I think this race gave them a lot of confidence and it demonstrates that we are making strong headway."
Aisha Praught turned in a season-best performance in the women's steeplechase with a time of 10:58.36 to place 11th, while Kirsten Lang followed behind in 12th place with a time of 11:04.14.
Senior Samantha Springer took ninth place in the women's hammer throw with a distance of 176-2.
"Sam has been struggling in the hammer for the past couple of weeks so to see her throw only one meter under her personal-best in the conditions we had today was really good," said assistant coach Jeff Chakouian. "She faced some of the best throwers in the country and really had to battle her way into the finals. It was impressive to see her get a big throw and place ninth at the Drake Relays."
On the men's side, Jon Roberts turned in a time of 9:20.97 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to earn a 10th-place finish. Freshman Mat Smoody rounded out the Redbirds performances with an 11th place finish in the 800-meter run. Smoody crossed the finish line with a time of 1:55.17.
"Overall the entire Drake Relays has been a great experience," said Bovee. "There were a lot of good things that happened and we are definitely moving forward as team. We can take a lot of positive things from this weekend."
The ISU track and field team is still in action at the Stan Lyons Invitational, which is hosted by Butler and held in Indianapolis. Competition will conclude later in the evening, results will be posted following the completion of the meet.
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