Jan. 15, 2011
Stats
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. -
Thrower Brittany Smith had a day to remember at the Illinois State track and field teams dual meet with Missouri Valley Conference rival Indiana State. Smith set a school record in the shot put and set a new career-best in the weight throw during Saturday's meet in Terre Haute, Ind.
Smith picked up where she left off a month ago, as the sophomore won the women's shot put and set a school record with a heave of 53-11.75. Smith continued the memorable day with a second-place finish in the women's weight throw with a toss of 64-02.25 and set a new personal-best mark.
"Brittany had a great day today and had the best performance of all our student-athletes," said head track and field coach Elvis Forde. "Brittany set a school record in the shot put and also recorded a career-best mark in the weight throw. It is good to see her building off of a strong freshman season, and we expect her to continue to do well throughout the season."
The Redbirds were back in action Saturday after a month-long break and kicked the indoor season into full gear with the annual dual meet. On the men's side, Indiana State defeated the Redbirds by a score of 89-62, while the women fell to the Sycamores, 83-68.
With a jump of 5-07.25, senior Amanda Albrecht won the women's high jump before finishing third in the women's triple jump with a leap of 36-11.50. In the pole vault, Rachelle Harbert cleared 10-11.75 for a third-place finish.
The Redbird women controlled the mile run, as Aisha Praught finished the race in first with a time of 5:06.00 followed by Samantha Bluske (5:11.00) in third and Kristen Zillmer (5:15.56) in fourth. Praught maintained her strong performance throughout the day, as she won the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:08.18 and was followed closely by Bluske, who took third in the race after crossing the finish line at the 10:11.92 mark.
Tia Harvey sprinted to a second-place finish after crossing the finish line in 7.73 in the 60-meter dash. Alia McAfee ran to a first-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a personal-best time of 57.53, while Sade Sealy (57.61) and Jenna Combs (59.61) finished the race in second and fourth places, respectively. McAfee (25.59) and Sealy (25.70) finished second and third, respectively, in the 200-meter dash.
On the men's side, the ISU throwers had a solid day in the shot put taking the top-three spots. Curt Jensen (53-00.75), Chris McIntyre (53-00.75) and Patrick Trofimuk (49-01.50) took the first through third positions, respectively. Trofimuk finished second in the weight throw with a heave of 58-03.75, while Akil Mills (56-06.75) and Jensen (54-04.00) ended the competition in third and fourth places, respectively.
Tyler Knight finished second in the men's triple jump with a leap of 47-05.00, while Ben Pratt took third in the event with a mark of 45-10.00. Mike Ziegler was third in the pole vault with a height of 14-03.25.
In the 60-meter hurdles, Kendric Smith finished second after crossing the finish line in 8.29, while Alex Forde was fourth with a time of 8.37. Kayode Adegoke picked up two second-place finishes at the dual meet with the first coming in the 60-meter dash (7.03) and then again in the 200-meter dash (22.71).
Fabian Norgrove ran to a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash with a 50.29, while Mat Smoody was second in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.16. The men's 4X400-meter relay team of Alex Roark, Yosef Tewolde, Norgrove and Smoody won the race with a time of 3:21.79.
"We are ready to get back to campus and start working on areas that need improvement in our upcoming practices," said Forde. "We had a fairly good day today, but we expected more from both teams. Both the men's and women's teams have a lot of room to grow, and we hope to improve on those areas as the season continues."
The Redbirds return to action Jan. 22, as they return to Normal, Ill., to host the Illinois State Invite at Horton Field House.
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