May 15, 2011
Results
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Illinois State's Sade Sealy earned the 2011 Outstanding Women's Track Athlete and Tim Glover was named the Outstanding Men's Field Athlete Sunday on the final day of competition at the 2011 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships held at the Mark Messersmith Outdoor Track and Field Complex on Northern Iowa's campus.
The Redbird women finished in third place as a team with a total of 159 points, while the men placed fifth with 85 total points. The Redbirds finished where the pre-championship poll picked them to finish. It was also the way ISU ended the 2010 Valley Outdoor Championships. Wichita State won the women's championship with a total of 194 points, while Indiana State placed first on the men's side with a total score of 168.
"On the women's side, we had a really special day with a lot of great performances," said head track and field coach Elvis Forde. "In the 4X100-meter relay, we have been banged up all year long, and it was hard to put a group of four runners together, but we found a team and they ran a season-best time. A lot of the women were also able to score some points for us, which was great. The men did well today (Sunday) recording a few personal bests and all-conference honors. On the men's side, we competed well and ended the championships on a solid note with a seasonal-best time and second-place finish in the 4X400-meter relay. That time was one of the best times in the 4X400-meter relays times we have had in a few years."
Sealy continued to dominate the 400-meter dash in the Valley and did so by setting a school record. Sealy won the conference title and earned All-Valley honors with a personal-best time of 53.48, breaking her previous record of 53.75, which she set during the 2010 Valley Championships. The sophomore has grabbed four conference titles over the past two years in the 400-meter dash with a win Sunday. Sealy later ran to all-conference accolades in the 200-meter dash with a personal-best time of 24.30 for third place.
"Sade was outstanding in the 400-meter dash with a new school record, and she was a part of other great moments, including being named the women's track MVP," said Forde. "It was a very solid and memorable day for her."
Glover earned All-Valley honors and registered the nation's top men's javelin throw this season with a mark of 258-09, which set new Missouri Valley Conference and MVC Outdoor Championship records and a school record. The Normal, Ill., native won the conference title in the javelin with the personal-best throw, which marks back-to-back conference titles and All-Valley honors for the sophomore. The Normal, Ill., native previously broke the school and conference record during the Eastern Illinois Big Blue Classic (April 2) with a throw of 249-00. Glover had a convincing victory, as Wichita State's Brett Trudo took second with a throw of 224-02, which was nearly 35 feet shy of Glover's throw.
"Tim won the Outstanding Men's Field Athlete award for the second-straight year, which is always a great accomplishment, especially as a sophomore," said Forde. "He can add this award to the other well-deserved awards. He was unbelievable in the javelin competition this weekend."
Jess Husted continued her strong campaign in the 1,500-meter run, as the senior won the conference title and collected All-Valley honors with her first-place finish in a personal-best time of 4:24.74. The women's 4X400-meter relay team of Jenna Combs, Shandel Ellis, Jordan Frey and Tia Harvey won the conference title with a time of 3:41.
Several other Redbirds earned all-conference accolades for their performances during the final day of competition. Fabian Norgrove was second in the men's 400-meter dash finishing in 48.21, making the all-conference team. Then, Norgrove, along with Kayode Adegoke, Coty Kramer and Ben Sparkman teamed up for the men's 4X400-meter relay and finished second with a season-best time of 3:12.77 for all-conference honors. The 4X100-meter relay team of Ellis, Sealy, Harvey and Alia McAfee earned all-conference accolades with a third place finish, crossing the finish line in a season-best time of 46.46. Brittany Smith and Tori Ziegler each earned All-Valley honors in the women's discus. Smith was second with a throw of personal-best throw 172-01, while Ziegler followed in third with a personal-best mark of 156-08. The duo each earned Valley honors in two events over the weekend.
In the women's track finals, McAfee (55.56) and Ellis (56.09) both ran personal-bests and just missed all-conference honors in the 400-meter dash, finishing in fourth and fifth places, respectively. Ellis nearly had all-conference honors in the 200-meter dash, but finished fourth in a personal-best time of 24.41, while McAfee was seventh with a personal-best time of 24.65. Jenna Combs was 10th in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:04.14.
Still on the track, Jil Kerkman (2:12.99), who ran a personal-best, and Husted (2:14.24) finished fifth and sixth, respectively, in the 800-meter run finals, while Kristen Zillmer finished eighth in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:41.45. Samantha Bluske was fourth in the 5,000-meter run in 17:00.72. In the women's field events, three Redbirds recorded personal-bests and finished in the top-10 in the women's triple jump. Kendall Rush took seventh with a leap of 38-08.75, while Amanda Albrecht jumped 38-01.25 was eighth. Jen Jenkins was 10th with a mark of 37-02.50.
In the men's track finals, Josh Pope was seventh in the 110-meter hurdles in 14.71, which was a personal-best time. Sparkman qualified for the 100-meter finals in the preliminary race with a personal-best time of 10.76 and finished seventh in the finals, crossing the finishline in 10.84. Kramer (21.93) and Norgrove (21.93) ran personal-best times for top-10 finishes in the 200-meter dash. Scott Krapf was sixth in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 14:55.85, while Matt Mroczynski was eighth in 15:00.01.
For the men's field events, Mike Ziegler just missed all-conference honors in the men's pole vault, after finishing fourth with a personal-best leap of 16-01.25. Tyler Knight (48-08.00) finished fourth in the men's triple jump and nearly earned all-conference honors, as teammate Kris Mizel took seventh in the event with a leap of 48-04.00.
Several Illinois State student-athletes will now wait to hear if their marks over the course of the season will qualify them for the NCAA West Regional, which will be held May 26-28 in Eugene, Ore. The selections for the West Regional will be made on Thursday, May 19, at noon.
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