March 27, 2010
Complete Results
CARBONDALE, Ill. -
The first meet of the 2010 outdoor track and field season saw three Illinois State student-athletes set new school records at the SIU Gill Spring Classic Saturday afternoon at Lew Hartzog Track. Tim Glover and Leigh Petranoff both set new standards in the javelin throw on way to first-place finishes, while Sade Sealy set a new mark in the 400-meter dash to place second.
Both the ISU men's and women's team finished second to Missouri Valley Conference foe and host Southern Illinois. The men's team finished with 157 points behind the Salukis with 216 points and the women's team finished with 181 points compared to SIU's 263 points. Other teams competing at the scored meet included Marquette, St. Louis, Chicago State and Lincoln College.
"I was impressed with the way we started the season today," head coach Elvis Forde said. "When you head into the first meet of the season, we are always unsure of how the team will respond to the training and how they will bounce back from the conference meet. However, they practiced well and that turned into some consistent performances on the track and the field today."
Glover, a freshman who was competing in his first collegiate meet, recorded a throw of 226'06" to top the previous school record of 216'02" set in 1970 by his father, Robert. Petranoff's throw of 152'07" topped her own school record of 150'11", which she set as a freshman last season. Sealy, a freshman as well, broke the previous school record set in 1985 by Debbie Ford (54.23 seconds) with her mark of 53.94. She now holds the school record in the event, both indoors and outdoors, and was the MVC champion in the event during the indoor season.
"Tim, Leigh and Sade all had outstanding performances and showed they can compete with the best in the conference," Forde said. "In Tim's case, we knew he was capable of a throw like that, but for him to replicate his work from practice and break his father's school record was impressive. Leigh just continues to get better and showed why she was the conference champion last year as a true freshman and Sade's performance was stellar for her first outdoor meet of the season. We expect all three to continue to improve their marks throughout the season and score big points for us along the way."
In other action on the women's side, the trio of Tia Harvey (12.76), Meaka Brents (12.94) and Hanna Query (13.26) swept the top three spots in the 100-meter dash. Sealy also ran to second-place finishes in the 200-meter dash (25.64) and the 400-meter dash (53.94), Harvey finished third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.86 and Alia McAfee battled shin splints to run to a third-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a time of 56.43.
In the distance events, Aisha Praught led the way for the Redbirds. Praught took first place in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:38.73 and was second in the 800-meter run (2:19.63) behind Jil Kerkman with a time of 2:18.24. In the 3,000-meter run, Sam Bluske (17:47.82), Olivia Myers (18:09.47) and Sarah Glowacki (18.25.12) placed second through fourth, respectively, and Kirsten Lang placed third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:26.25.
In the field, the throwers stood out with freshman Brittany Smith leading the way. Smith placed second in the shot put (49'09.75") and the discus (161'01") and also set a new personal record in the hammer throw with a heave of 179'08" to place sixth overall. Tori Ziegler also had a solid weekend, with a personal-best throw of 49'02.25" to finish in third place finish in the shot put with and was fourth in the discus with a toss of 152'06".
On the men's side, Kayode Adegoke placed second in the 100-meter (11.29) and 200-meter dash (22.30) and John Neisler ran to a first-place finish in the 800-meter run in 1:54.06, followed closely in second place by Mat Smoody with a time of 1:55.21. Steve Regan and Jon Roberts were also winners on the day, with Regan pacing the field in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:53.64 and Roberts besting the competition in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:19.45.
There were also strong performances in the field, with Drew Holl highlighting the action with a first-place finish in the high jump with a height of 6'04.75". In the triple jump, Tyler Knight placed third with a leap of 46'04.25" and Nick Ragusa picked up third-place honors in the pole vault with a height of 15'01.75". Rounding out the action was freshman Curtis Jensen, who placed fourth in both the shot put (50'02.50) and the discus (153'10").
"Overall, we improved in several areas from the indoor season which is what we were hoping for today," Forde said. "The women's team continues to be consistent and strong and the men's team had a great day of competition. We know where we still need to improve and those will be the areas we focus on as we continue on."
The Redbirds return to action next weekend at the EIU Big Blue Classic hosted by Eastern Illinois. Action will begin on Friday, April 2, and will conclude on Saturday, April 3, in Charleston, Ill.
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