DES MOINES, IOWA ? Indiana State senior Jeanne' Middleton came within one hundredth of a second of qualifying for the NCAA Regional in the 100 meters, finishing second in a race where the top three finishers were within a half-second of each other.
Middleton was timed in 11.76 seconds which was her best time of the season and just off the regional qualifying mark of 11.75. Brittany Henderson of Minnesota State-Mankato won the race with a time of 11.72 seconds while Jessica Gregorgy of Baylor was third with a time of 11.78 seconds.
“After being sunny and in the 80's on Friday, it was more typical weather for Des Moines today with rain and temperatures in the 40's,” John McNichols, Indiana State Track & Field and Cross Country coordinator, said. “Still, we had some pretty good individual efforts today.”
Erica Moore followed up her fifth place finish in the women's heptathlon with a fourth place finish in the women's 400 meter hurdles. Moore finished with a time of 59.78 with Deserea Brown of Illinois first in 58.68. Amber Hay of Michigan was second in 59.02 with Kiana Elahi of Iowa State third in 59.59.
Also for the Sycamore women, Lauren Martin placed fourth in the women's triple jump with a leap of 40'5.5” (12.32 meters). Seidre Forde of Louisville won the event with a leap of 41'7” with Tara Korshoj of Nebraska second at 40'10.5” and Leandra McGruder of Nebraska third at 40'9”.
Another good performance was turned in by Michael Disher in the 3000 meter steeplechase as he qualified for the NCAA regional with a fifth place finish in 9:05.91, his best time of the season. Desean Turner of Indiana won the event with a time of 9:01.49. Sycamore teammate Kyle Walsh was 11th with a time of 9:24.94.
In other individual events, Anthony Bertoli was 13th in the men's 400 meter hurdles with a time of 54.17 while Julius Smith was 22nd in the men's discus with a toss of 151'4” (46.12 meters).
In the relay events, the men's 4x110 Shuttle Hurdle Relay finished fifth in the preliminaries as Michael Roberts, Tykeen Fulton, Anthony Bertoli and Patrick Mendenhall completed the circuit in 1:00.44. The Sycamores just missed making the four-team final by two-tenths of a second.
The men's 1600 Sprint Medley team of Daryl Truitt, Gary Ogburn, Sean Wright and Konstantinos Tzirtziris placed seventh overall with a time of 3:24.96 while the women's 1600 Sprint Medley team of Jaquelle Spencer, Mary Kate Conway, Rachel Posey and Katie Weber was 19th overall with a time of 4:11.69.
The women's 4x1600 meter relay of Heather Stembridge, Kacie Klem, Allison Malone and Adriane Wunderlich finished 15th overall with a time of 20:57.14.
Indiana State will host their second outdoor meet of the season next Saturday when they host the Pacesetter Invitational.
