March 5, 2010
NORMAL, Ill. -
Illinois State sophomore thrower Tori Ziegler will head to Ames, Iowa, Saturday in an attempt to increase her NCAA provisional-qualifying mark in the shot put at the NCAA Qualifier Meet hosted by Iowa State at the Lied Recreational Facility.
Action starts at 10:30 a.m., with Ziegler scheduled to throw at approximately 1 p.m. This will be the last meet for athletes to qualify before the NCAA indoor meet or improve on their current marks and times.
Illinois State assistant coach Erik Whitsitt mentors the Redbird throwers and will accompany Ziegler to the meet this weekend in hopes of seeing her steady improvement over the last several meets continue.
"I think Tori started off the season knowing she was a good shot-putter, but her confidence has been a bit of an issue at times during training," Whitsitt said. "However, with each meet she has grown a bit more confident and the results have been continuously better. She's thrown over 51-feet numerous times in practice and I've also seen some 52 and 53-footers as well, and that is probably what it's going to take for her to secure one of those last spots at the NCAA meet."
Ziegler provisionally qualified for the NCAA meet with a personal-best throw of 50'11.50" in February at the Iowa State Classic and is coming off a strong performance at the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in the shot put last weekend in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Ziegler finished third overall among her Valley counterparts with a throw of 50'05.50" to earn her second-straight All-Valley honor in the event during the indoor season.
She currently ranks 34th in the country with her provisional-qualifying effort, but only the top 16 throwers advanced to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, March 12-13, in Fayetteville, Ark.
"I think Tori is very excited about her chances at the meet," Whitsitt said. "We just looked at the listings for the meet and she will be the second-best seed heading in, so there is not a lot of pressure on her knowing she doesn't have to beat a lot of other people to advance to finals. Just knowing she can go out there and hit the same types of throws she does in practice every day will give her a lot of confidence this weekend."
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