April 23, 2010
Redbird Spring Invitational Program 
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State track and field teams have not hosted a home meet since Jan. 16, when the Redbirds faced off in a dual meet inside Horton Field House against Missouri Valley Conference foe Indiana State. However, that will change Saturday, April 24, when Illinois State hosts the 2010 Redbird Spring Invitational at Redbird Track.
The Redbirds will host other in-state foes such as Southern Illinois, Eastern Illinois, Bradley and Northern Illinois in the one-day meet and will also square off against MVC foe Missouri State and cross-town rival Illinois Wesleyan. Action is set to begin in the field events at 9 a.m. with the men's hammer throw event and running events will begin at noon with the men's 5,000-meter run.
"We always like to give our athletes a chance to compete at home where they are comfortable," head coach Elvis Forde said. "The outdoor season is so crazy in regards to the number of weekends you have available to you and dealing with the unpredictable weather in this area of the country. So, this weekend will allow us to stay close, compete in front of our family and friends and work the kinks out before the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Championships, which we are hosting here in a couple of weeks."
Several Redbirds head into the weekend in the top-three in the Missouri Valley Conference in their respective events, many thanks to strong performances last weekend at the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational hosted by Louisville. On the women's side, Amanda Albrecht and Leigh Petranoff both lead the Valley in their respective events. Albrecht, a 2009 All-MVC performer during the outdoor season, recorded a season-best height of 5'07.25" in the high jump last weekend to take over the top spot in the Valley and Petranoff broke her own school record and distanced herself from the rest of the league's competitors with a throw of 158'05" in the javelin throw at Louisville. She is in search of her second-straight MVC individual title in the javelin, after winning as a freshman last year.
Freshman Brittany Smith has also been very strong in the field events and currently ranks second in the Valley in both the shot put (51'01.75") and the discus (165'02"). Those marks currently rank her 11th and 15th in the West Regional rankings, respectively, where the top-16 athletes advance to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Austin, Texas, May 27-29.
On the track, freshman Sade Sealy currently ranks second in the 200-meter dash (24.48) and 400-meter dash (53.94) in the Valley standings, with teammate Meaka Brents close behind in third place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.51. Rounding out the top competitors for the Redbirds is Aisha Praught, who ranks third in the conference in the 1,500-meter with a time of 4:35.72.
The ISU men's distance runners sit high atop the league standing in several events. Steve Regan leads all athletes in the Valley with a time of 3:53.94 in the 1,500-meters and Jon Roberts is second in the conference in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 8:58.07. Scott Krapf rounds out the impressive group with a pair of top-three times and ranks second in the 10,000-meter (29:32.90) and third in the 5,000-meter (14:27.06).
Elsewhere on the track, Kayode Adegoke ranks third in the Valley in the 100-meter (10.68) and 200-meter dashes (21.28) and Mat Smoody sits in third place in the 800-meter dash (1:53.13). In the field, freshman Tim Glover ranks second in the league with a throw of 226'06" in the javelin and Drew Holl rounds out the list in third place in the high jump with a height of 6'08.75".
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