April 13, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
A select group of members from the Illinois State track and field teams will travel to Walnut, Calif., to compete in the competitive 53rd Annual Mt. SAC Relays, Thursday through Saturday, at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the campus of Mt. San Antonio College.
The Redbirds will open the meet Thursday with the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 10,000-meter run beginning at 6:30 p.m. (CST). Action will resume Friday with the women's 1,500-meter run beginning at 11 a.m. (CST), and ISU will conclude the meet Saturday with the women's discus, which is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. (CST).
Illinois State heads into the competitive invitational after grabbing both team titles at the Lee Calhoun Invitational last weekend. The women's team took first with a team score of 210, while the men's team collected 187.5 team points for the first-place finish.
For the women's team, Sade Sealy bested the competition in the 400-meter dash in 54.52. Then, Sealy teamed up with Jordan Frey, Jenna Combs and Jil Kerkman for a first-place finish in the 4X400-meter relay, completing the race in 3:52.11. The ISU distance runners dominated the 1,500-meter run, as Jess Husted won the race in 4:32.70, while Samantha Bluske (4:34.57) and Kristen Zillmer (4:37.58) took second and third, respectively.
Brittany Smith led the women throwers, as she won the discus throw (164-03), hammer throw (183-06) and the shot put (49-11.25). Leigh Petranoff took first in the javelin throw, after recording a throw of 147-11 while Amanda Albrecht bested the competition in the high jump with a leap of 5-05.00.
On the men's side, Fabian Norgrove (48.27) and Mat Smoody (48.29) finished in the top-two spots in the 400-meter dash, respectively. Norgrove (22.23) continued to play a crucial role for the Redbirds, as he finished third in the 200-meter dash. Smoody and Norgrove joined Coty Kramer and Ben Sparkman to win the 4X400-meter relay after crossing the finish line in 3:17.29. In the distance events, Matt Mroczynski bested the competition in the 3,000-meter run finishing in 8:44.85.
In the field events, Tyler Knight won the triple jump with a personal-best leap of 49-06.25. Curt Jensen (56-00.50) won the shot put, while teammate Akil Mills finished first in the hammer throw with a personal-best throw of 189-05. Tim Glover will compete at the Mt. SAC Relays in the javelin, as the sophomore set a school record in the event with a mark of 249-00 at the Big Blue Classic. The Normal, Ill., native broke his own record, which he previously set last season at the Missouri Valley Conference Championships with a throw of 233-11.
Live results from the invitational will be available on the Mt. Sac Relays' website, www.mtsacrelays.com.
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