WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ? The Indiana State University men's and women's track and field teams competed in the Gene Edmonds Cup Saturday at Purdue University, finishing second with a score of 79.83. The score was the combined total of points earned by the men and women's team at the meet. Purdue finished on top with 127.16 points while Missouri was third with 78.00 and Illinois State fourth with 43.00.
“We were kind of flat starting out,” ISU head men's coach John McNichols said. “It wasn't the kind of energy we have had before. But we picked it up towards the end.”
ISU women's coach John Gartland noted that his team had a lot better performance than a week ago.
“We performed a lot better than a week ago but we still have a lot of work to do,” Gartland said.
For the Lady Sycamores, Erica Moore (Sullivan, Ind., freshman) won the 600 meters in 1:32.95, just a second off the school record. Dani Prince (Bloomington, Ind., senior) nearly lapped the field in winning the 3000 meters in 10:01.01 while the 4x400 relay team was also a winner in 3:51.88.
Janae Bridges (Ypsilanti, Mich., senior) was second in the 200 meters with a time of 25.39.
In the field events, Santia Spight (Indianapolis, Ind., senior) won the high jump with a leap of 5-feet-8 (1.73 meters).
“She had a couple of good shots at making the provisional height for the NCAA Indoor Championships,” Gartland said.
Kylie Hutson (Terre Haute, Ind., freshman) reached the provisional mark in the pole vault for the second time in three meets this winter, placing second with a vault of 12-feet-11 ? (3.96 meters)
On the men's side, Steve Daniel (Decatur, Ill., junior) won the triple jump for the second straight meet with a leap of 50-feet-3 ? inches. Teammate Paladin Jordan (Des Plaines, Ill., senior) finished in second at 48-feet-8 ? while ISU's Corey Dowden (Mt. Vernon, Ill., senior) was fourth at 48-feet-0 ?. Dowden was third in the long jump (21-feet-9) with teammate Rylen Peterson (fourth (21-feet-8). Dowden was also third in the high jump (6-feet-7).
Jordan Fife (Seymour, Ind., senior) continued his winning ways, taking the 3000 meters in 8:30.63 and the mile run in 4:12.20.
“Jordan led from the start in the mile but a Missouri kid came up and actually led part of the last lap,” McNichols said. “That's when Jordan got his kick going and ran past him for the win.”
Andrew Geller (Avon, Ind., sophomore) finished second in the 600 meters (1:21.0)
The Sycamores will have a week off before the head back to Bloomington, Ind., next weekend for the Hoosier Relays.
