DES MOINES, IOWA ? Indiana State's Erica Moore placed fifth overall in the heptathlon while Anthony Bertoli was seventh overall in the decathlon as the second day of the 100th Drake Relays concluded today at Drake University.
Moore was the second collegian, just behind Kent State's Diana Dumtresou, who was third overall with 5,350 points. Moore finished with 5,302 points which provisionally qualifies her for the NCAA Mideast Regional. The point total was just short of her school record total of 5,368 that she set last year. Jackie Johnson, a 2008 Olympian running unattached, won the heptathlon with a meet record 6,020 points.
Moore opened with the long jump and was measured at 17'3.25” (5.26 meters), almost two feet shorter than her best of the season. She still finished seventh but carried over her problems in the long jump it to the javelin, where she finished 14th with a throw of 98'5” (29.99 meters), also well below her season best.
“When you are competing in the multi's, you cannot carry over problems from one event to the next,” John McNichols, Indiana State track & field and cross country coordinator, said. “There were unproven problems with the measurement in one of the long jump pits and it just happened to be the one she was jumping in.
“A lot of athletes and coaches complained but the officials did not find any problems,” McNichols said. “Erica just carried over that frustration to the javelin and did not perform up to her expectations.”
The Sycamore junior came back with a dominating performance in the 800 meters, winning the final event of the heptathlon with a time of 2:10.16. Johnson was second, finishing in 2:15.75.
Bertoli, who was the fifth collegian in the final standings, finished with 6,676 points, his third best point total of his career. He is the ISU record holder with 6,927 points which he scored last year.
He opened today's competition with a strong performance in the 110 meter hurdles, finishing fifth with a time of 15.09. Bertoli was 12th in the discus at 102'10” (31.35 meters), sixth in the pole vault at 14'5.25” (4.40 meters) and 11th in the javelin with a throw of 136'4” (41.55 meters).
Bertoli finished the competition with another strong performance in the 1,500 meters, finishing third with a time of 4:31.06.
“Bertoli is very good in the events where most decathlon athletes are weak but not as strong in the events where most decathlon athletes excel,” McNichols said. “Like Erica, he competed well but just came up short on his expectations for this event.”
The Sycamores had two other competitors on the day as Kayla Alexander finished eighth in the women's 10,000 meters with a time of 37:34.92 and Eric Schulz was sixth in the men's 10,000 meters with a time of 31:41.03.
“It was a beautiful day here,” McNichols said. “Just a bit warm for running a 10K but both Kayla and Eric ran very good races.”
Several more Indiana State athletes will be in competition on Friday as the Drake Relays continues.
For the Sycamore women, Kylie Hutson will be competing in the pole vault with Jeanne' Middleton running in the 100 meter preliminaries. ISU will also be competing in the women's distance medley relay and the women's 4x800 meter relay.
For the Indiana State men, Gary Ogburn and Daryl Truitt will run in the 100 meter preliminaries with Michael Roberts competing in the preliminaries of the 110 meter hurdles, and Brandon Pounds will compete in the men's shot put. ISU will also field teams in the 4x100 meter relay, 4x200 meter relay and 4x400 meter relay.
