May 2, 2009
Results
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -
The Illinois State women's throwers highlighted the Redbird track and field team's performances at the Pacesetters Invitational at Marks Field, Saturday. Samantha Springer (159-10), Kami Klopfenstein (145-8), and Tori Ziegler took first through third in the discus throw, Ziegler won the shot put and Leigh Petranoff took home the javelin title.
"The women's throwers really competed well," said head coach Elvis Forde. "Leigh has been consistent in the javelin, which is always good to see."
"Overall we had an average day, except for a few key performances. I was a little disappointed with how we performed on the track. I was hoping for a better effort since the conference championships are so close, but we still have another weekend and will continue to improve."
Springer, a senior thrower, earned her third NCAA Regional qualifying mark in the discus to win the event. The Tremont, Ill., native also took second in the hammer throw with a distance of 176-1 and also placed third in the shot put.
Ziegler, a freshman, racked up her third regional mark in the shot put and second first-place finish of the season. Ziegler launched the shot 47-8; she also placed fifth in the hammer with a distance of 146-0 and took third in the discus.
In the javelin, Petranoff claimed her third regional qualifying mark with a winning distance of 143-10. It was freshman javelin thrower's second top finish of the season.
In the men's throwing events, junior transfer Jason Robbs earned two season-best performances in the hammer throw and discus. The junior transfer earned a third-place finish in the hammer throw with a distance of 185-3 and then took seventh in the discus with a toss of 146-3. Alex Adams collected fourth-place finishes in the shot put and discus. In the shot put, the freshman launched 50-11.5, then in the discus had a toss of 151-11.
Junior Nick Ragusa earned his second winning performance in the pole vault this season. Ragusa cleared a season-best height of 15-9 to win the event by five inches.
On the track, Alia McAfee turned in a personal-best time in the 400-meter dash. The freshman took second place with a time of 56.62, while teammate Brianna Officer took third clocking a 57.48 performance. Jess Husted pulled double duty for the women's distance runners, as the sophomore competed in her first 800-meter run as a Redbird and turned in a time of 2:18.00 to place seventh, then was runner-up in the 1,500-meter run with a personal-best time of 4:40.76.
Matt Mroczynski won the men's 5,000-meter run title with a season-best effort. The sophomore turned in a time of 14:30.40, which was only five seconds off his personal-best.
John Neisler claimed the 800-meter title with a time of 1:54.45. The win was the junior transfer's first top mark of the year.
The ISU track and field teams head to the Billy Hayes Invitational held in Bloomington, Ind., Friday for its final tune-up before returning to the Hoosier state for the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships (May 15-17) in Terre Haute, Ind.
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