BLOOMINGTON, IND. ? The Indiana State men's track and field team finished third while the women's squad had a disappointing day, finishing fourth, as the Indiana Invitational came to a close on Saturday.
“Michigan State is an up and coming team that powered past the field with their sprinters,” John McNichols, Indiana State men's track and field coach, said. “We lost to two very good Big Ten teams but did beat Southern Illinois, who beat us outdoors last year.”
Michigan State won the men's team title with 196 points while Indiana was second with 185, Indiana State third with 163 and Southern Illinois fourth with 117.
“This was another day, just like we had last week, where we just could not handle the competition,” John Gartland, Indiana State women's track & field coach, said. “We had too few kids doing too much of the work. Some of our younger kids are just not ready for this level of competition.”
Indiana University took the team title with 198 points while Michigan State was second with 177, Southern Illinois third with 143 and Indiana State fourth with 141 points.
On the men's side, Indiana State won two events with Brandon Pounds winning the shot put and Major Clay the high jump. Pounds had a toss of 58'10.25” (17.94 meters) was is his personal best of the season and a regional qualifying mark.
Clay captured the high jump with a leap of 7'-0.25” (2.14 meters). Not only did Clay better the regional qualifying mark in winning the event but so did David Bell, who finished third with a regional qualifying mark of 6'10.75” (2.10 meters).
Kyle Walsh finished second in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:07.74 which is just .74 of a second off the regional qualifying mark of 9:07.00.
“It was a great race by Kyle,” McNichols said. “I really felt bad for him after he just missed that qualifying mark.”
Other top finishers for the Sycamore men on Saturday include: Michael Roberts with a second place finish in the 110 meter hurdles (14.73); Daryl Truitt was fourth in the 100 meters (10.76) and third in the 200 meters (21.54); Sean Wright third in the 400 meters (47.71); and, Joshua Williams fourth in the javelin (165'08”).
The Sycamore 4x400 meter relay team of Antinoice Surry, Anthony Bertoli, Colton Slack, and Sean Wright finished second with a time of 3:12.95.
For the Indiana State women, Erica Moore won her second event of the invitational, taking the 800 meters with a time of 2:09.89 which just missed a regional qualifying mark by less than a second.
Jeanne' Middleton picked up their only other victory for the ISU women Saturday, taking the 100 meters in 11.82 and just missed by an regional qualifying time by less than a tenth of a second. Middleton was also second in the 200 meters with a time of 24.92.
Lauren Martin followed up her win in the triple jump on Friday with a second place finish in the long jump Saturday. Martin had a leap of 19'2.75” which was a season personal best for her.
“Erica came through with a good double for us Jeanne' continues to have an outstanding spring season and Lauren continues to jump well for us,” Gartland said.
Other top performances on Saturday for the Sycamore women include Jaquelle Spencer, fourth in the 200 meters (25.70) and Mary Kate Conway, fourth in the 400 meters (57.48). The Indiana State 4x400 meter relay team of Martin, Kaci Smith, Rachel Posey and Conway finished third with a time of 3:48.25.
On Friday, Moore bettered her regional qualifying mark in the 400 meter hurdles, winning the event with a time of 58.49. Martin also bettered her regional qualifying mark, winning the triple jump with a leap of 42'01.25” (12.83 meters).
The Sycamore 4x100 meter relay team of Spencer, Middleton, Martin and Conway lost in a photo finish to Michigan State, both teams timing in at 46.41.
Another top finisher for the Sycamores was Kelsey Hanley, who finished second in the discus but had a regional qualifying throw of 156'0” (47.54 meters).
Heather Stembridge was fourth in the 1500 meters with a time of 4:33.64 while Sarah Snapp was sixth in the triple jump at 34'3” (10.44 meters), Tara Perigo fifth in the javelin at 105'2” (32.05 meters), and Amanda Jones sixth in the javelin at 103'5” (31.53 meters).
On the men's side Friday, Anthony Bertoli completed an ISU sweep in the hurdle events as he won the men's 400 meter hurdles with a time of 52.93. James Twitchell finished third with a time of 53.46 while Andrew Geller was fifth in 55.65 and Drake Sterling sixth in 59.73.
Indiana State earned another first place finish from the 4x100 meter relay team as Truitt, Surry, Wright and Andrew Stull combined to win in 40.78.
In the 5000 meters, Eric Schulz finished third in 14:32.29, the sixth best time in Indiana State history, while Michael Disher was fifth with a time of 14:38.23, the 10th best time in ISU history.
Other top finishes for the Sycamores came from Ernest Rollins, third in the triple jump with a leap of 47'6.25” (14.48 meters), and Jeremiah Vaughan fourth in the 1500 meters with a time of 3:53.23.
