KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA ? Indiana State junior Kelsey Hanley made history at the 2010 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships Saturday, capturing second place in the 20 pound weight throw and setting a new Indiana State record in the process.
Another highlight for the Sycamores came from sophomore Jeremiah Vaughan who captured Indiana State's first MVC individual title on Friday as he outran the field to win the men's 3,000 meters.
Hanley smashed the Indiana State record as she came within one inch of becoming an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Indoor Championship, finishing second and earning All-Conference honors with a throw of 68'-9” (20.96 meters). Carrie Myers had the Sycamore record with a throw of 67'0-1.25” (20.45m) in 2000.
The throw is currently the fourth best in the nation which should guarantee that she will be making her second trip to the NCAA Indoor Championships.
“It was an extremely disappointing first day for us,” John Gartland, Indiana State women's track & field coach, said. “We just did not compete well. Consequently, we are not set up well to finish in the top half of the team race but we have some big events on Sunday that could really give us a push up.”
Southern Illinois leads a very tight team race after the first day with 40 points while Wichita State is second with 39. Indiana State and Northern Iowa are tied for third with 29 points while Missouri State is fifth with 20 points. Drake currently sits in sixth with 18, Illinois State seventh with 16 points and Bradley is eighth with eight points.
“What a race,” John McNichols, Indiana State men's track & field coach, said of the men's 3,000 meters. “It was one of those classic conference tactical races that started slow for first mile and then it broke loss. Vaughan closed from being at the back with two laps out, made an aggressive move to the front and was able to hold it. He beat SIU's Jeff Schirmer who had won 11 conference titles and had never been beaten in the 3K or K5.
“Just as impressive was Padgett who also moved from the back to the front Albaro who controlled the race early and held on to finish in the points,” McNichols said. “Our throwers did a nice job as did our sprinters. We have an awfully strong line up in those events that we are represented in tomorrow so we will just see how it goes.”
The men's team race is equally tight after the first day with Southern Illinois on top with 47 points, Northern Iowa second with 44, and Indiana State third with 42 points. Wichita State currently sits in fourth with 36 while Drake is fifth with 14 and Illinois State sixth with nine points.
“It was a great job by Kelsie (Hanley) and Felisha (Johnson) in the throws which really got us off to a good start,” Gartland said. “However, we just did not carry through on that momentum. The night ended positively though as Lauren (Martin) and Erica (Moore) finished third and fourth in the long jump.”
Johnson also had a personal best and surpassed the provisional qualifying mark as she finished fourth in the event with a throw of 65'-3” (19.89m). The distance moved her into the top 15 of the nation and improved her chances of making the trip to the national championship. Freshman Kasey Kahle was 15th with a throw of 50'-10” (15.51m).
Indiana State had four runners in scoring position for the men' 3,000 meters led by Vaughan's winning performance. Craig Padgett took fourth in the event with a time of 8:43 while Michael Disher placed seventh in 8:45.40, and Albaro Escalera was eighth in 8:45.81. Eric Schulz placed 14th for ISU (9:00.81).
Indiana State picked up some good points in the men's weight throw as the Sycamores finished second, third, and fourth in the event. Senior Lyle Nolcox earned all-conference honors by finishing second with a throw of 63'-0” (19.22m) while senior Josh Williams also earned all-conference honors by finishing third with a throw of 62'-11” (19.18). Sophomore Brandon Pounds was fourth with a throw of 59'-10” (18.24).
The Sycamore women also got a good boost in the final field event of the evening as Lauren Martin and Erica Moore placed in the top four of the women's long jump. Martin came close to a provisional qualifying mark in finishing third with a jump of 19'-11.75” (6.09m) while Moore was fourth with a jump of 19'-7.5” (5.98m). Both were personal bests as was the jump of Shalesa Smith who was ninth at 18'-7” (5.66m).
Tra Wilson led the Sycamores in the men's long jump with a 14th place finish at 21'-4” (6.50m). Ernest Rollins placed 17th at 19'-9.5” (6.03m).
Steven Swinford was the top finisher in the men's pole vault for ISU as he placed ninth at 15'-7.25” (4.76). Jeremy Pratt also went 15'-7.25” (4.76) and was 11th by virtue of more misses while Drew LaMaster was 12th at 15'-1.5” (4.61m).
The Sycamore women's distance medley relay team of Adriane Wunderlich, Leeann Michl, Kaci Smith and Kacie Klem finished a disappointing sixth with a time of 12:21.67. The men's distance medley relay team of Dustin Betz, Colton Slack, Konstantinos Tzirtziris, and Andrew Lepkowski was fourth with a time of 10:14.55.
Rachel Posey finished 11th in the Pentathlon with 2,926 points despite setting a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 31'-2.75” (9.52m). Posey finished fourth in the 800 meters (2:27.57) and seventh in the long jump at 16'-3.25” (4.96) but had a disappointing 10th in the high jump at 4'-7” (1.40m) and 13th in the 60 meter hurdles (10.37).
Swinford is currently in sixth place of the men's Heptathlon with 2,797 points but has his best three events coming up on Sunday with the 60 meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1,000 meters. Swinford had personal best efforts of 20'-8” (6.30m) in the long jump and 36'-6.25” (11.13m) in the shot put during today's four events. Dexter Childress is currently 13th with 2,296 points despite a personal best in the 60 meters (7.40) and 31'-3.25” (9.53m) in the shot put.
Jaquelle Spencer advanced to the Sunday finals in the 60 meter dash by finishing third in the preliminaries with a time of 7.60. Jasmyn Hudgins finished 11th (7.79). Daryl Truitt has the top time entering Sunday's final in the men's 60 meter dash at 6.79 with Tra Wilson also advancing with the sixth fastest time of 6.90. Justin Baxtron finished 13th (7.18).
Spencer also advanced to the finals of the 200 meters by finishing with the fifth fastest time in the preliminaries of 25.25. Macey Black was 21st (26.47). Truitt and Tra Wilson reached the finals of the men's 200 meter with Truitt posting the fifth best time at 22.05 and Wilson the sixth best at 22.14. Michael Roberts finished 11th (22.49) and Baxtron was 14th (22.98).
Erica Moore will be competing in the finals of the 60 meter hurdles after finishing the preliminaries with the fourth best time at 8.69. Sarah Snapp was ninth in the preliminaries (9.00) with Tori Stone 13th (9.08). Roberts will be running in Sunday's finals of the men's 60 meter hurdles after posting the second best time of 8.14 in the preliminaries. Patrick Mendenhall finished 12th (8.44) and Tykeen Fulton was 14th (8.59).
Indiana State failed to advance anyone into the finals for the 400 meter with Stacia Weatherford was ninth in the women's 400 preliminaries (57.80) while on the men's side Andrew Stull was 10th (50.20) and Slack 13th (54.34).
