COLUMBUS, Mo. - Indiana State University junior Kurt Heimann and senior Paladin Jordan advanced to the finals in their respective events after the first day of the NCAA Mid-East Regional being held at the University of Missouri.
Heimann was second in his heat and seventh overall to advance to the finals of the men's 800 meters. Heimann led after the first 400 meters in his heat before finishing second in 1:49.08. Jordan won his heat of the 400 meters in 51.29 and is the fourth fastest overall heading into Saturday's finals.
The Indiana State women picked up two points in the team standings when senior Santia Spight placed seventh in the women's high jump with a leap of 5-feet-9.25-inches (1.76 meters). The leap was her personal best and moved into a tie for fourth all-time.
"She had several good attempts at 5-foot-11 which would have been a new school record," said John Gartland, ISU women's track and field coach. "She has had a tremendous career at Indiana State and will now have to wait to see if she will get an at-large selection to the NCAA finals."
Also awaiting an at-large selection is Indiana State sophomore Sean Wright who has the 10th fastest time after the preliminaries in the 400 meters. His time of 46.97 was the second fastest in his heat but not fast enough to earn him a spot in the finals.
"We were hoping for a little bit better for Sean," said John McNichols, ISU men's coach. "It was not his best performance but his time from the conference championship might be good enough to earn an at-large bid. We will just have to wait and see."
Senior Jason Carruthers saw his career at Indiana State come to an end in the regional as he fouled on his three attempts in the hammer and placed 21st in the discus with a throw of 159-feet-3 (48.55 meters). Red-shirt freshman Lyle Nolcox placed 32nd in the hammer throw with a toss of 168-feet-1 (51.23 meters)
Sycamore freshman Erica Moore also failed in her attempt to advance to the finals in the women's 400 meter hurdles as she finished 11th with a time of 59.70. ISU's Danielle Prince ran in the 5,000 meters in the final event Friday, finishing 14th overall with a time of 16:49.93 .
Indiana State freshmen Kylie Hutson opens ISU's competition on Saturday by competing in the women's pole vault starting at 2:30 p.m. (CST). Jordan and Corey Dowden will then compete in the triple jump with Sean Bowman running in the 3000 meter steeplchase and the 4x100 meter relay of Logan Edwards, Bryan Kent, Heimann and Wright will compete. Also, Heimann will be running in the 800 meter finals as will Jordan in the 400 meter hurdle finals.
