May 26, 2011
EUGENE, Ore. - Leigh Petranoff and Tim Glover finished in the top-12 in the women's and men's javelin competition, respectively, Thursday at the NCAA West Region Preliminary Round in Eugene, Ore., which earned them a spot in the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. The top-12 finishers in each event move on to the outdoor championships June 8-11.
“We expected Leigh and Tim to do well in the competition," said head track and field coach Elvis Forde. "Leigh had her best throw of the season, and it was also a school record. She got a strong mark on her first thorw, which allowed her to relax and enjoy the rest of the competition. Tim didn’t have his best throw in the first attempt, but in his second attempt, he had a better throw and was also able to relax and pass on his last three throws. It was good to see both of them do well."
Petranoff, the Missouri Valley Conference champion in the event, used a school record throw of 163-04 to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships and finished seventh overall. Petranoff broke her own record, which she set at the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships (May 15, 2010) with a throw of 162-00. Glover, who entered the competition with the best throw in the nation and the Valley champion in the event, advanced to the outdoor championships with a throw of 240-05, which put him in fifth place overall.
Sade Sealy qualified for the 400-meter dash quarterfinals, winning her heat with a time of 53.81, which puts her in fourth place overall heading into Friday's quarterfinals.
"Sade won her heat to advance to Friday’s second round," said Forde. "She has to finish in the top-12 to make it to the championships. Based on how she ran in the first round, we are very optimistic about her advancing. She has to run with confidence and go out there and compete the way we know she can."
Brittany Smith competed in her first of three events over the weekend in the shot put. Smith qualified for the finals with a throw of 51-02.75, but her next two throws of 48-11.00 and 48-02.75 were not enough to qualify for the NCAA Championships, as the sophomore finished the regional in 15th place. Tori Ziegler also competed in the shot put and finished the event in 26th with a mark of 48-09.
Jess Husted finished the 1,500-meter run in 33rd place in 4:27.41, but didn't qualify for the quarterfinals on Saturday. Samantha Bluske ran to 26th place in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 34:46.79, but didn't qualify for the NCAA Championships.
On the men's side, Curt Jensen's mark of 55-02 in the shot put placed Jensen in 25th place, but it wasn't enough to advance to the finals. Scott Krapf ran the 10,000-meter run in 30:05.94 and finished in 32nd place.
"All of the student-athletes who competed today had good performances," said Forde. "They should be happy with their season and how they ended it at the NCAA Regionals."
The student-athletes will return to the track Saturday beginning at noon (CST) with the women's hammer throw, while the running events will start at 5 p.m. (CST) with the women's 100-meter hurdles.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics, tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
