Jan. 22, 2011
Results
NORMAL, Ill. -
The Illinois State track and field program took wins in 23 of the day's 30 events, when ISU hosted the Redbird Invitational inside Horton Field House Saturday. Illinois State competed against in-state rivals Northern Illinois and Western Illinois.
"We have to feel good," said head track and field coach Elvis Forde. "With a few of our student-athletes having bumps and bruises, I think this was the right medicine for those student-athletes. We got to do some different things since it was a smaller meet, and we had some student-athletes give excellent performances today."
Brittany Smith continued to be a dominating force for the Redbirds in the field events, as she won the weight throw with a mark of 61-04.75 and the shot put with a throw of 52-06.75. Tori Ziegler finished second in the weight throw (55-04.75) and the shot put (44-08.00) during Saturday's meet.
In other field events, Amanda Albrecht won the high jump with a personal-best leap of 5-08.75, while Hilary Hobler took first place at the long jump pit with a personal-best mark of 17-08.25. In the pole vault, Rachelle Harbert won after clearing a height of 11-03.00.
Jenna Combs won her first collegiate event, as she took first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 58.84. Alia McAfee finished second in the race with a time of 58.90, while Shandel Ellis was close behind in third place with a time of 58.97.
Elsewhere on the track, the ISU women controlled the distance events throughout the day. Sade Sealy (1:33.85), Breanna Staples (1:37.96) and Jil Kerman (1:38.38) grabbed the top-three spots in the 600-meter run. Aisha Praught won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:18.12, while Kim Christensen finished the race in third place after crossing the finish line in 2:26. 78. In the mile, Samantha Bluske (5:04.60) won the race with a personal-best time, while Brea Tinney took third (5:24.70).
On the men's side, Michael Ziegler won the pole vault with a height of 14-04.00, and Tyler Knight finished first in the triple jump with a mark of 46-07.50. Curt Jensen won the men's shot put with a personal-best throw of 56-06.50, while Akil Mills grabbed a first-place finish in the weight throw with a heave of 63-03.25. Patrick Trofimuk was third in the shot put (50-02.50) and the weight throw (57-04.25).
Alex Forde won the 60-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 8.33, while Nick Gallardo took second after crossing the finish line in 8.55. The ISU men's sprinters dominated the 60-meter dash, as Kayode Adegoke (7.05), Ben Sparkman (7.13) and Kyle Hunn-Andreae (7.23) finished in the top-three spots.
In other action on the track, Coty Kramer won the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.65, as teammates Gallardo (53.76) and Forde (53.81) finished in second and third place, respectively. Fabian Norgrove won the men's 600-meter run with a time of 1:20.61, while Mat Smoody took second with a mark of 1:20.90 and was closely followed by Yosef Tewolde, who was third with a time of 1:22.59.
Jon Roberts won the 800-meter run after crossing the finish line in 2:00.83. Tewolde took first place in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:37.39, while Nick Geyer finished close behind in second place (2:37.41).
The ISU men's distance runners controlled the mile run, as John Navarro (4:20.02), Blake Brooks (4:22.37), Jon Roberts (4:26.09) and Sean Senf (4:35.28) finished in first through fourth place, respectively.
"We are pleased with the progress we have made so far, but there is always more that can be done and that depends on how healthy we can get over the next few weeks," said Forde. "However, this meet was useful to increase the confidence level of some of our student-athletes, and the smaller scale of the meet helped us and it was well worth it."
The Redbirds will compete at the Illinois Intercollegiate Saturday, Jan. 29 in Urbana, Ill.
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