CEDAR FALLS, IOWA - Curt Jensen and Julia Ott highlight day two of the 2013-14 Indoor Track & Field Missouri Valley Conference Championships, as Jensen finished with a gold medal in the men's shot put and Julia Ott claimed second with a school record in the pole vault, as the Illinois State men finished fifth with 81 points and the women's squad placed fourth with 68 total points Sunday at the University of Northern Iowa Dome.
Jensen's dominance in the shot put continued as the senior claimed victory with a heave of 18.81m (61-08.50). Jensen did not have the start he wanted, as he fouled the first two attempts. However, he fought back throwing a mark of 18.62m, advancing to the finals. Jensen tossed a winning mark of 18.81m on his first attempt in the finals, with no thrower matching his mark in three attempts.
In the pole vault, Ott broke the school record she set earlier this year at the Notre Dame Invitational, vaulting to a personal-best mark of 4.08m (13-04.50) and besting her former mark of 4.05m (13-03.00). Ott finished in a tie for second in her first year competing in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships, earning All-Valley honors. The sophomore cleared 4.08m on her third attempt, but was unable to clear 4.23m (13-10.50).
Also in the field events, Akil Mills was awarded the Missouri Valley Conference Most Outstanding Male Field Athlete of the Year honor. The award is based on a student-athlete's performance during the Valley meet and their ranking on the NCAA leaderboard. Mills earned a first-place finish Saturday with a throw of 21.19m (69-06.25) in the weight throw. The senior thrower currently ranks No. 15 on the NCAA leaderboard with a personal-best heave of 21.23m (69-08.00) set at the Don Kirby Elite, heading into the NCAA Championships.
"We can be excited or disappointed, and today I am a little more disappointed because when we look at the scores we are separated by three or four points," head coach Elvis Forde said. "In some cases, it might be injury or a false start, but it comes back to haunt you. When I look at the performances, I cannot say I am very excited, but at the same time, our kids competed. The meet was very high quality. It goes to show that everything has to go perfectly in order. I know that we have to just start getting ready for the outdoor season, and we need to get Curt and Akil to the national meet and have them excel there. We had Akil being named Outstanding Field Athlete and that is a great feeling. All in all, we competed hard, but it is just so crushing when you look at the points that separated four teams."
Kristen Zillmer captured two All-Valley accolades on the weekend with a third-place finish in the women's mile Sunday, clocking a time of 4:57.97. The Park Ridge, Ill., native also earned points in the 800-meter race, placing fourth overall with a final time of 2:12.99. Haley Goers, Ashley Kamin and Kelly McShea also earned points for the Redbirds in the women's mile, as they finished sixth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
Shandel Ellis earned her second all-conference accolade of the weekend with a 400-meter time of 55.55. Ellis placed first in her heat, but came up short to Althia Maximilien of Missouri State who placed first overall with a time of 54.47 and Indiana State's Alethia Marrero who ran 55.33 to earn second. Ally Christiani finished seventh with a 400-meter time of 56.96.
Freshman Morgan Keller threw a personal-best mark of 14.32m (46-11.75) in the shot put of the first flight of competition to advance to the finals. Following Keller, Jianna Williams tossed a mark of 14.40m (47-03.00) to finish sixth in flight two, also advancing to the final round. Williams finished with a final mark of 14.40m and Keller finished with a heave of 14.32m to finish sixth and seventh, respectively. Indiana State's Mary Theisen won the individual shot put title with a heave of 17.17m (56-04.00). Theisen currently ranks No. 3 in the NCAA.
Ryan Rutherford picked up his second All-Valley award, placing third in the men's 3,000-meter race with a time of 8:19.31 behind 2013-14 MVC 5K champion Brogan Austin and Robert McCann of Drake. Sean Senf clocked a 3,000-meter time of 8:28.27 to finish seventh, and Dave Eckhart was right behind him with a time of 8:33.77 in 10th. Eckhart also picked up points for the Redbirds in the mile, finishing sixth overall with a time of 4:16.89, while CJ Hamilton narrowly missed an MVC title, finishing just behind Jonathan Jackson of Indiana State. Hamilton clocked an 800-meter time of 1:52.56, and Ryan Bybee finished with a personal-best 800-meter time of 1:54.93, taking seventh overall.
In the men's heptathlon, Kevin Fisch finished in sixth overall with a total of 5,022 points. Fisch earned his most points in the pole vault, placing third with a vault of 4.60m (15-01.00). The junior earned a personal-best mark in the long jump with a leap of 6.67m (21-10.75) and ran to a fifth-place finish in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 2:50.04.
Jake DeJaegher leaped to a mark of 2.01m (6-07.00) in the high jump to finish in eighth. DeJaegher failed to clear 2.06m (6-09.00), which would have marked a personal-best.
The Redbirds will be back in action March 14-15, as Jensen and Mills travel to Albuquerque, N.M., to compete in the shot put and weight throw, respectively, for the NCAA Championships.
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