May 30, 2009
Results |
Photo Gallery 
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -
Leigh Petranoff finished eighth in the javelin with a throw of 144 feet, 11 inches for the Illinois State track and field team at the 2009 NCAA Mideast Regional Track and Field Championships held in Louisville, Ky., and hosed by Louisville at the Cardinal Park Track and Field Complex Saturday.
The freshman ended her season capturing a Missouri Valley Conference Championship title, Illinois State school record and personal-best performance of 150-11 at the conference championships two weeks ago. Kara Patterson of Purdue won the javelin with a season-best and the nations-top mark on the season with a distance of 192-1.
"Leigh had a good day, she came in and we knew that she was going to be fighting to get a top spot and she just fell a little short of that," said assistant coach Jeff Chakouian. "This is her first regional meet and as a freshman she got in and competed well, but she was in a tough field. I think this experience is going to help her become a national level thrower in the years to come."
Freshman Tori Ziegler and senior Samantha Springer ended their shot put season in 34th and 39th place, respectively. Ziegler threw a distance of 46-0.50, she finished the season with a personal-best distance of 49-0.25, and was ranked 28th in the region and No. 2 all-time at ISU.
Springer ended her shot put career with a throw of 41-5.25, the Tremont, Ill. entered the meet with a personal-best mark of 47-11.25. She finished higher than expected as she was seeded 40th entering the contest and left the circle 39th.
Sophomore Kirsten Lang wrapped up the Redbirds performances in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Lang turned in a time of 10:51.50 with a 12-place finish, which was her second-best time of her career and six seconds shy of her personal-best mark of 10:45.19.
"Kirsten was ranked 18th coming in and finished 10th in her heat so she beat eight women in her race that were seeded higher than her," said assistant coach Jeff Bovee. "She ran a strong race and has made a remarkable improvement from last year. I really think that this is going to be a huge confidence booster for her. She finished 12th overall, which makes her eligible to get an at-large bid to the national meet, she has two more years so we will see what she can do in these next two years."
The top-five finishes in each region receive automatic bids to the NCAA Track and Field National Championships held in
Fayetteville, Ark., June 10-13. Anyone that finishes 6-12 in each region will be placed in an at large pool and will be accepted based on their season-best performances by the NCAA championships committee.
The Redbirds will wait to see if any of their at-large entrants will contend at the NCAA National Championships meet held June 11-13 in Fayetteville, Ark. At large qualifiers are scheduled to be announced Tuesday by the NCAA.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, TRC gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
