DES MOINES, Iowa – Four of Illinois State's relay teams raced to season best times, while Chase Pavelonis and Morgan Keller each recorded solid performances in the field during day two of the Drake Relays at Drake Stadium.
Women's Track
With the top nine teams making the finals in both the men's and women's 4x100-meter and 4x400-meter relay teams, Illinois State's women's 4x100-meter relay team finished 13th with a time of 46.45, while the Redbirds' women's 4x400-meter relay team finished 18th at 3:46.42.
"The 4x100-meter women had their second-best time of the year, and the 4x400-meter women had their best time of the year," ISU Director of Track and Field Jeff Bovee said. "It was pretty even across the board. We had a really good leadoff carry by Sarah Mussallem with a 55.2-second split. So, that was great, and she's definitely getting stronger every week as she heals up from an injury."
Men's Track
ISU's men's 4x400-meter relay team raced to a season-best 3:10.34, good for 14th place. Illinois State's men's 4x100-meter relay team also recorded its best time of the season, earning 16th place overall with a 41.14 mark. The Redbird men's 4x800-meter relay squad finished in 10th place with a time of 7:36.18. JD LaFayette tuned in a 1:50.6 leg to highlight the effort.
"Probably the best race for our group today was the men's 4x400-meter relay," Bovee said. "They ran 3:10, which leads the Missouri Valley Conference. Some of the other top Valley teams were here in Loyola, Indiana State and UNI. Unfortunately, our leadoff Antonio Farley ran a 49-second split which didn't get us into the hunt with the teams in our heat. But then, we had a really solid second leg by CJ Hamilton with a 47.2, which was his best split of the year. Jalen Lewis then gave us a 48-second split, and Anderson Devonish just ran a monster leg. He had the fastest split of all the teams today with a 45.1 anchor leg, which is just incredible. It brought us way back and got us into a close finish."
Women's Field
In the women's discus, Morgan Keller finished 13th with a throw of 45.64-meters (149-9).
"It rained most of the morning into the early afternoon, and then it started to die off a little bit. The winds definitely affected the discus. While Morgan Keller was throwing, it was pouring down rain which definitely affected some of the marks. But, she is throwing pretty consistently well, so we're happy to see how she is progressing."
Men's Field
Chase Pavelonis finished 10th in the men's pole vault with a vault of 4.92 meters (16-01.75 feet), signifying ISU's fourth-best mark in program history.
"We had a lot of rain coming down which delayed the start of the vault and it was still pretty wet conditions which dried up as the competition went on," Bovee said. "Chase came in and made the opening bar, and because he's been a little dinged up lately, he decided to pass at the next bar and went to the 17-01.50, which would get him to the first round of the NCAA meet more than likely, and he had a couple of good attempts, but he just nudged it off. It was definitely his best vault here in the last few weeks, so this was a solid competition for him."
Glover Wins Javelin
Former Redbird All-American and National Champion Tim Glover won the men's javelin competition at the Drake Relays Friday as an unattached athlete, recording a throw of 76.92 meters (249-10).
Saturday
ISU's men's and women's sprint medley teams will race at 10 a.m. and 10:20 a.m., respectively, Saturday. The women's steeplechase will follow, featuring No. 38 ranked Ariel Michalek and Kelly McShea. Live results from the Drake Relays can be found at GoDrakeBulldogs.com.
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