Feb. 17, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
With one more chance to compete before the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships, the Illinois State track and field teams will compete Friday at the EIU Friday Night Special hosted by Eastern Illinois at the Lantz Indoor Fieldhouse.
"We are sending a number of student-athletes over to Charleston, Ill., for the Friday Night Special," said head track and field coach Elvis Forde. "Some of the student-athletes that want to be more prepared for the championships next weekend will compete in the invitational, while the ones who are not going to be competing this weekend are already on the team for the conference championships, and they feel good about their performances. We have had some injuries that have kept some of our student-athletes from competing and those athletes will also be participating this weekend."
The meet will begin at approximately 2 p.m. with the women's weight throw, and action on the track will begin at 3 p.m. with the combined 5,000-meter run. The night of competition will conclude around 9:10 p.m. with the men's and women's 1,000-meter runs.
The Redbirds are coming off a tough weekend of competition at the Iowa State Classic, where several of the top teams in the country competed in the three-day meet. In the seeded field events, two Redbirds grabbed top-five finishes. Amanda Albrecht finished the high jump in fifth place after leaping 5-09.75, while Brittany Smith's throw of 51-03.75 in the shot put gave her fourth place.
In the seeded running events, two runners recorded top-10 finishes in the 3,000-meter run. Samantha Bluske (9:42.21) took seventh place, while Aisha Praught (9:43.95) finished the race in eighth place.
"The EIU Friday Night Special is mostly to get prepared for the conference championships and finalize the teams for next weekend," said Forde. "All in all, it is a meet to ensure confidence in our student-athletes."
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