April 24, 2010
Complete Results
NORMAL, Ill. -
Gray skies and rain clouds loomed over the Redbird Track for the bulk of the day Saturday, but that did not dampen the competitive spirit of the Illinois State track and field teams that posted wins in 18-of-38 events at the Redbird Spring Invitational.
The men's discus event was not completed to due to inclement weather that moved into the area, but Illinois State head coach Elvis Forde was pleased with his team's performances under the not-so-ideal conditions.
"I was just glad to get most everything in before the weather came through," Forde said. "Obviously, we couldn't complete the men's discus event, but we had to air on the side of caution and keep the student-athletes safe. I feel really good in terms of where we stand in our preparation for the conference meet in a couple weeks looking back at today's performances. Overall, it was great to get for our athletes to get out on their home track and I think we are really making some headway on both the men's and women's side."
The women's field events produced some of the most memorable moments of the day. In the pole vault competition, sophomore Rachelle Harbert broke the outdoor school record and placed first overall with a height of 12'00". Freshman Brittany Smith continued her progression as one of the best throwers in the Missouri Valley Conference and picked up wins in the discus (157'10"), hammer throw (179'04") and shot put (48'04") events. Last year's Valley champion in the javelin, sophomore Leigh Petranoff, capped off the dominance in the field events with her fourth win of the spring in the event with a throw of 157'04".
Sophomore Aisha Praught and juniors Michelle Brunk and Tia Harvey were individual winners on the track for the Redbirds. Praught ran the 5,000-meters for the first time this spring and finished in a personal-best time of 17:36.78 to take the top honors. Brunk also set a new personal-best to win the 1,500-meters with a time of 4:33.40 and Harvey was the winner in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.22 seconds, after placing second in the 400-meter dash in a time of 56.94 seconds.
The ISU women also swept both relays with impressive performances. The 4x100-meter relay team of junior Meaka Brents, sophomore Alia McAfee, sophomore Hanna Query and Harvey took first place with a time of 51.02 seconds. Brents, McAfee, and Harvey then combined with freshman Sade Sealy to hold off a quartet from Valley foe Missouri State to win the 4x400-meter relay in a time of 3:55.41.
On the men's side, freshman Tim Glover picked up his third win of the season in the javelin with a toss of 214'03" and senior Sam Watts earned his first win of the season in the long jump with a leap of 23'00.50". Elsewhere in the field, sophomore Tyler Knight was second in the triple jump with a distance of 47'11.75" and the quartet of freshman Curtis Jensen (51'08.50"), sophomore Patrick Trofimuk (50'01.25"), junior Colin Fane (47'05.25") and sophomore Anthony Wirth (46'02.75") placed second through fifth, respectively, in the shot put.
In action on the track, sophomore Kendric Smith ran a personal-best time of 14.85 seconds to win the 110-meter hurdles and sophomore Mat Smoody took first place honors in the 400-meter dash with a personal-best time of 48.37 seconds. The wins kept coming in the distance events, as sophomore Steve Regan posted a victory in the 800-meters with a season-best time of 1:53.39 and senior Scott Krapf tallied a personal-best time of 3:56.81 in the 1,500-meters to pick up a win. Sophomore Blake Brooks added the final individual win for the Redbirds with a personal-best time of 15:03.29 in the 5,000-meters, just ahead of three teammates in second through fourth places.
Much like the women, the men's relays teams were very strong Saturday. The 4x400-meter team of senior John Neisler, Smoody, junior Yosef Tewolde and freshman Drew Dienslake held off a strong team from Southern Illinois to take the top spot with a season-best time of 3:17.88. The 4x100-meter team comprised of sophomore Kayode Adegoke, Watts, freshman Kyle Hunn-Andreae and freshman Ben Sparkman was edged out by the Salukis at the line, but still finished in a season-best time of 41.60 seconds to wrap up a strong day of competition.
The Redbirds return to action Friday, April 30, at the Jesse Owens Track Classic hosted by Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio. The two-day meet will conclude Saturday, May 1, at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
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