Dec. 4, 2010
Stats
NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State track and field program took wins in 14 of the day's 28 events, when the Redbirds opened the 2010-11 indoor track and field season at the Early Bird Open inside Horton Field House Saturday.
Sophomore Ben Sparkman won the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.05 seconds and was followed by junior Kayode Adegoke, who finished the race with a mark of 7.08. Like they did in the 60-meter dash, the ISU men owned the top-two spots in the 60-meter hurdles, as juniors Kendric Smith (8.15) and Josh Pope (8.29) finished in first and second place, respectively. Adegoke recorded another second-place finish, as he ended the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.79. Sophomore Alex Roark crossed the finish line in third place with a time of 51.87 in the 400-meter dash.
Then, in the men's 800-meter run, senior Yosef Tewolde (1:59.65) and sophomore Fabian Norgrove (1:59.72) took first and second place, respectively. Junior Jon Roberts won the men's 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:48.66.
In the men's field events, Drew Holl started his senior season off on the right foot, as he won the high jump with a leap of 6-10.75. Junior Mike Ziegler finished seventh in the pole vault with a mark of 14-11.00. Akil Mills had a strong performance in his first collegiate meet, as the freshman was the top Redbird finisher with a third place effort in the men's weight throw with a toss of 58-03.25. Junior Pat Trofimuk (56-03.25) and freshman Spencer Prince (54-06.00) ended the event in fourth and sixth place, respectively. Later in the meet, the 4X400-meter relay team of Norgrove, Tewolde, Roark and Coty Kramer won the event with a time of 3:24.13.
Still in the field events, freshman Antoine Curry was second in the men's long jump with a mark of 21-10.00. Curtis Jensen (53-08.25), Chris McIntyre (53-05.50) and Colin Fane (50-00.75) finished in second through fourth place, respectively, in the men's shot put. In the final event of the day, junior Tyler Knight won the triple jump with a mark of 47-11.25, while juniors Ben Pratt (45-10.75) and Kris Mizel (44-08.25) took third and fourth, respectively.
Senior Meaka Brents, a 2010 indoor all-conference runner, won the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.55 seconds. Freshman JonTaye Bonds had a strong showing in her first collegiate indoor meet, as she finished fourth in the 60-meter dash (8.03) and third in the 200-meter dash (26.99). In the 60-meter hurdles, freshman Jenna Combs took fourth with a time of 9.18, while freshman Shanelle Williams followed in fifth place with a mark of 9.42. Sophomore Sade Sealy, a 2010 indoor all-conference honoree, won the 400-meter dash after crossing the finish line in 57.06, while Jordan Frey (59.99) and Combs (1:00.13) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the event.
Later, junior Jil Kerkman was the first runner to cross the finish line in the 800-meter run with a personal-best time of 2:18.01. In the 3,000-meter run, freshman Megan Fry finished third in her first-collegiate meet with a time of 11:16.50. Finally, the team of Frey, Brents, Combs and Sealy cruised to a 4X400-meter relay victory with a time of 3:53.92.
Building off of her stellar freshman season, sophomore Brittany Smith continued to lead the women's field events, as she achieved a pair of wins in the women's shot put (51-01.50) and the women's weight throw (61-07.75). Junior Tori Ziegler was second in the women's weight throw with a mark of 58-08.75 and fourth in the women's shot put with a toss of 41-02.50.
The ISU women grabbed four of the top six spots in the long jump, as sophomore Jen Jenkins finished second with a leap of 17-05.50, while senior Lita Wynne was third with a mark of 17-00.75. Brents finished fifth (16-11.25) and was followed by sophomore Kendall Rush (16-08.75) in the event. The ISU women's strong field performances continued into the high jump, as senior Amanda Albrecht won the event with a leap of 5-07.00, while freshman Mollie Sloyan took fourth with a mark of 4-11.00.
Still in the field events, junior Rachelle Harbert finished third in the pole vault with a leap of 11-05.75. Rush took third in the triple jump with a mark of 36-05.50, while junior Stephanie Ibe ended the event in fifth place with a jump of 35-05.75.
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