TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The Coughlan-Malloy Cup will be up for grabs Friday evening as the Sycamores and Redbirds meet for the 12th straight season for their annual dual meet at the Terre Haute Double-Dual, held at Rose-Hulman's Sports and Recreation Center. Rose-Hulman will take on Manchester in their own Division III dual meet.
Since starting in 2005, the Sycamores are 11-1 in the rivalry series against Illinois State – which brought home the cup once in 2006. Rather than separate men's and women's team score winners, the Coughlan-Malloy Cup – named for legendary head coaches Bill Malloy (Indiana State) and John Coughlan (Illinois State) – is given to the winner of the combined score. The Sycamore men and women have only lost once each in separate competition against the Redbird men and women, the men falling in 2006 and the women in 2012.
Last season the Sycamores pulled away for a 159.50-130.50 victory over Illinois State, with the men winning 81.50-63.50 and the women edging out a 78-67 win.
The Sycamores return nine total event champions from last season's dual meet, as well as 17 All-MVC honors from the 2016 MVC Indoor Championships.
Running for the first time this indoor season will be defending MVC Indoor and Outdoor Most Valuable Male Athlete
David Timlin, who is the reigning conference champion in the mile and the 3K. Timlin will be opening his season in only the mile tomorrow night, with his career best coming close to breaking the four-minute mark at 4:00.42 – ran at Notre Dame last February at the Meyo Invite.
Senior hurdler
Marcus Neely will be looking to improve on his current ranking as the eighth-best 60-meter hurdler in the NCAA. Neely ran 7.91 in the season opener at Eastern Illinois on Dec. 9, and owns a career-best of 7.85 – which was good for a narrow runner-up finish to former All-American teammate
Adarius Washington at the 2016 MVC Indoor Championships.
On the women's side, sophomore
Brooke Moore also owns a national top-10 ranking in the 800-meter run. Most of the country's top distance runners have yet to get going this indoor season, but Moore's open of 2:12.65 (converted to 2:11.14 for national lists) at EIU is a solid open that ranks seventh all-time in school history and currently ranks fifth in the NCAA.
Jamie Newsome and
Cassaundra Roper will also lead the Sycamore women in the field after strong indoor seasons in 2016. Newsome, the defending MVC Indoor triple jump champion, will compete in both the triple and long jumps, while Roper, the 2016 MVC Indoor runner-up in the shot put, will look to improve on her career best of 15.46m (50-08.75) that ranks fourth all-time.
The doors open at Rose-Hulman at 4:30 p.m. with competition beginning at 6 p.m. with the field events before the action on the track starts at 6:15. A moment of silence will be held following the National Anthem for legendary former head coach John McNichols,
who passed away last month after 34 years at the helm of the cross country and track programs. Like the men's and women's basketball teams, both the men's and women's teams track teams will be wearing "JM" patches on their jerseys in remembrance of Coach McNichols.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track and Field team, make sure to check out
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including
Facebook and
Twitter.
