FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. ? The 2008 outdoor track season has been one in which Indiana State sophomore Kylie Hutson has re-written ISU and Missouri Valley Conference all-time records in the pole vault. On Friday evening, the Terre Haute, Ind., native added another honor to her resum? as she set a new NCAA Mideast Regional record by winning the pole vault in convincing fashion at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark.
Hutson, one of nine Sycamores competing at the regionals, came into the meet with the second-best jump in the region and the fifth-best in the country. Against some very tough competition, Huston leaped 13'11.75” to win her first regional title and automatically advance to the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship next month in Des Moines, Iowa. Hutson finished just ahead of Purdue sophomore Brianna Neumann and Cincinnati senior Brittnay Klima, who placed second and third respectively with heights of 13'07.75”.
“Kylie was outstanding today and competed extremely hard,” said ISU head coach John McNichols. “This is the first regional title in our program's history since they started the regional system in 2003 and it really speaks to Kylie's poise and experience. It was hot and she was getting pretty tired, but she cleared the height on her third and final attempt to win the title. Her experience in big meets really came into play today and I think she will have an extremely strong chance at the NCAA meet in a couple weeks.”
Not to be outdone, fellow sophomore Erica Moore set a new standard of her own in the preliminaries of the women 400 meter hurdles. The Sullivan, Ind., native won her heat and set a new school record with a time of 57.03 seconds to head into tomorrow's finals as the second-fastest qualifier. Moore's time of 57.03 broke her own school record of 57.90, which she set earlier this season at the Lenny Lyles/Clark Wood Invitational in Louisville, Ky. That mark also gives Moore the fifth-best time in the country based off the NCAA Division I Outdoor Regional Descending Order List released prior to the weekend.
“Erica is in great shape heading into tomorrow's final,” said McNichols. “She needed to come out and run well today after taking a pretty hard fall in the event at the MVC championships. That had to be in her mind today on the track, but she buckled down, put that aside and broke her own school record. With that time, she will also have a good lane assignment for tomorrow which could help her move on to the NCAA meet as well.”
In other preliminary action on the women's side, junior Jeann? Middleton posted a season-best time of 11.59 seconds in the 100 meter dash to finish third in her heat. However, that mark fell short of qualifying for the finals and the Indianapolis, Ind., native finished 14th overall.
On the men's side, sprinters Sean Wright and Gary Ogburn were both in action on Friday for the Sycamores. In the prelims of the 400 meter dash, Wright finished second in his heat with a time of 47.22 seconds. Unfortunately, that time was not quick enough to advance the junior from South Bend, Ind., to the finals tomorrow and he finished in 11th place overall. Both Wright and Ogburn then took to the track for the 200 meter prelims, however both struggled as Wright placed 23rd overall with a time of 21.25 seconds and Ogburn, a Newburgh, Ind., native placed 27th with a time of 21.77.
The remaining Sycamores will be in action tomorrow, beginning at 5 p.m. with sophomore Lauren Martin and senior Steve Daniel competing simultaneously in the women's and men's triple jump events. Junior Julius Smith will be the next to compete at 6:45 p.m. in the discus. Moore will then take to the track for the finals of the women's 400 meter hurdles at 7:40 p.m. and the day will conclude with senior Sean Bowman competing in the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase at approximately 8:40 p.m.
