Feb. 13, 2010
Final Results in PDF Format 
AMES, Iowa. - Sade Sealy set a school mark in the 400 meter dash, Meaka Brents ran the third-fastest 60-meter time in school history and Tori Ziegler launched an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the shot put to highlight a strong day for Illinois State's women's track and field team on the final day of competition at the Iowa State Classic on the Lied Center Track Saturday.
Sealy finished fifth overall with a school-record time of 55.14 in the 400 and Brents scorched to a second-place finish with a personal-best 7.49 seconds in the 60 meter dash. Brents won her heat with the third fastest time in qualifying (7.58), before improving further and posting the third-fastest indoor time in school history during the finals. Brents was bested only by Minnesota State-Mankato's Brittany Henderson and narrowly missed the NCAA provisional qualifying mark of 7.44 seconds. Ziegler finished in sixth place in the shot with a throw of 50-11.5.
"I'm very happy with where the women are at this point in time," Illinois State head coach Elvis Forde said. "Most of the individuals that competed (on the women's side) today did pretty well. Tori continues to perform well, but we think she's got more. They're getting sharper and we're going to need a really great effort from everyone to do the things we want to accomplish, like win a conference championship."
Sealy, a freshman, knocked more than a second of her personal-best time and surpassed Andrea Mosher's Illinois State record of 55.36, set in 2005. She was joined in the top 15 by Alia McAfee, who finished with a personal-best time of 56.36.
"Sade looked like an experience runner," Forde said. "It's good to see her with so much success, so early in her career. It speaks volumes for her. McAfee ran a seasonal best and we're very excited about it, because she's still nursing injuries. We're very excited for her and her potential."
Jess Husted continued her pursuit of the five-minute mark in the women's mile and finished in fifth place at 5:02.06, her personal-best. She has improved in all three races this season and was followed closely on Saturday by Samantha Bluske. Bluske finished a little more than four seconds behind and placed 10th with a time of 5:02.41 - nearly 16 seconds better than her personal-best time.
Amanda Albrecht posted her second-best mark of the indoor season in the high jump, clearing 5-06.0 feet while finishing third.
For the second-consecutive meet, Ben Pratt posted a personal best in the triple jump. Pratt placed eighth overall with a jump of 47-01.5 feet. He previously posted a leap of 46-03.5 at last weekend's Meyo Invitational. Tyler Knight also posted a strong jump in the finals but was disqualified due to a minor infraction.
"We're going to need Ben to be one of the top four guys at the conference meet and hope he continues to get better," Forde said.
"Tyler Knight had season-best performance but he was disqualified after taking a look at a video of his performance. We know he's capable of doing it now. Overall, it was an up and down day on the men's side. Hopefully we can find our wheels before the conference meet."
Illinois State is slated to compete at the Eastern Illinois Twilight meet next Friday in Charleston, Ill., before taking aim at the rest of the Valley at the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships hosted by Northern Iowa (Feb. 27-28).
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