Jan. 26, 2012
NORMAL, Ill. ­­­- The Illinois State men’s and women’s track & field teams head to Bloomington, Ind., for the Indiana Relays beginning Friday and running through Saturday at Gladstein Fieldhouse.
The meet will start at 3 p.m. on Friday, with the men’s weight throw, followed by the 60-meter hurdle prelims at 3:10 p.m. The Indiana Relays features competition from many schools, clubs and athletes of an elite level. ISU will see competition from schools such as Indiana, Missouri State, Louisville, Indiana State, South Florida and Purdue, to name a few.
Head track & field coach Elvis Forde is excited to see what his team can do.
“Any time you are at a meet of this caliber, anything can happen,” said Forde. “It gives our athletes the chance to show that it doesn’t matter what school you go to and that you can perform at a high level and be competitive wherever you choose to go to school. This will give us a chance to shine and build confidence heading into the final four weeks of competition before the conference meet at the end of February.”
The Redbirds have competed in three meets so far during the indoor season. ISU opened the season with a dominating performance overall at the Redbird Open. After an extended holiday break, the Redbirds returned to action, hosting Indiana State in a dual meet at Horton Field House, where the Sycamores edged out ISU with a combined team score of 167.5-138.5. The teams then headed north to Madison, Wis., to compete in the Elite Invitational where both the men’s and women’s teams finished second.
So far during this season, the Redbirds have broken two school records and set numerous personal-bests. Brittany Smith set a new record in the weight throw with a distance of 67-10.75 at the Redbird Open. She then threw a distance of 68-03.75 in the dual meet with Indiana State, setting a new school mark. She now holds all three top distances in the weight throw. Kendric Smith ran the third-fastest time in the 60-meter hurdles, posting a time of 8.07. Curt Jensen set a new personal-best in the shot put at the Redbird Open with a mark of 58-09.50, only to follow it up with a 61-02.75 personal-best performance in the weight throw.
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