KEVIN JENISON

GoSycamores.com

COLUMBIA, MO. ? The Indiana State men's and women's track & field teams captured second place in their respective divisions at the Tom Botts Invitational Saturday with the host Missouri Tigers winning both titles.

The Indiana State women went toe-to-toe with the host Tigers throughout the invitational and finished second with 253 points. Missouri won with 281 points while Northern Iowa was third with 153, Drake fourth with 159 and Central Missouri finished fifth with 123 points.

“The weather turned out great for the meet,” John Gartland, Indiana State women's track & field coach, said. “It was windy but the five team format was excellent. We pushed a very strong Big 12 team right to the end of the meet with a lot of strong performances. It was a striking difference from a week ago.”

The Sycamore men finished second despite missing several veterans from their lineup. Indiana State finished with 205 points with Missouri winning with 264. Northern Iowa was third with 183 points with Central Missouri fourth with 159 and Drake sixth with 156 points.

“We were missing a few key people but the rest of the team stepped it up and really performed well,” John McNichols, Indiana State men's track & field coach, said. “We had some pretty good individual efforts.”

Erica Moore started off the meet with a third place finish in the long jump but then posted victories in the 800 meters, 100 meter hurdles, and rallied the Sycamores to a win in the 4x400 meter relay.

“It was a great day for her,” Gartland said. “She out leaned a Missouri girl to win a very close 800 meters and then brought the team back from second by running a very quick anchor leg to lead us to the win.”

Moore had a personal best 2:08.61 in the 800 meters, the third fastest time in school history, and edged Layne Moore of Missouri by a tenth of a second. The Sycamore senior won the 100 meter hurdles in 14.48 and had a jump of 18'-3.25” (5.57 meters) to finish third in the long jump.

The 4x400 meter relay team was led off by Leeann Michl with Lauren Martin running the second leg, Kaci Smith the third leg, and Moore the anchor leg. Indiana State had a time of 3:42.96 which was just quick enough to edge Missouri who was second in 3:43.23.

Martin won the triple jump competition with a jump of 39'-3.75” (11.98 meters) and took second in the long jump at 18'10.5” (5.75) along with picking up a win as part of the 4x100 meter relay team that finished in 47.23. Jaquelle Spencer, Jasmyn Hudgins, and Violet Nwordu were also a part of that winning team.

Nwordu also led a 1-2-3 sweep in the 100 meters for the Sycamores as she edged out Spencer for the victory with Nwordu timed in 12.265 and Spencer in 12.267. Hudgins was third with a time of 12.35. Nwordu also finished third in the 200 meters in 25.12.

Michl was third in the 400 meters in 56.64, Klem finished third in the 1500 meters in 4:40.16, Allison Malone second in the 3000 meters in 10:04.81, Sarah Snapp third in the 100 hurdles in 14.86, and Tori Stone finished third in the 400 hurdles in 1:04.66.

Kylie Hutson continued her winning ways in the women's pole vault, winning the event Saturday with a vault of 13'-7.25” (4.15 meters). Kelsey Hanley won the hammer throw with a personal best toss of 185'-8” (56.61 meters) which is the fourth best in school history. Felisha Johnson was second in the hammer at 172'-3” (52.52 meters) and was fourth in the shot put at 44'-6.25” (13.57 meters). Annie Smith finished second in the high jump at 5'-3” (1.60 meters).

On the men's side, Major Clay continued to win in the high jump completion as he tied his personal best of 7'-2.5” (2.20 meters) in winning on Saturday. Brandon Pounds won the hammer throw with a toss of 177'-8” (54.17 meters) and was third in the shot put with a toss of 52'-10.25” (16.11 meters). Lyle Nolcox was third in the hammer at 176'-6” (53.80 meters) with newcomer John Lopp taking third in the javelin at 168'-7” (51.39 meters).

Michael Disher led a dominating Indiana State performance in the 3000 meter steeplechase with a winning time of 9:13.49 with Dustin Betz second in 9:32.18 and Andrew Lepkowski fourth in 9:42.91. Michael Roberts was second in the 110 hurdles in 14.63, Justin Baxtron second in the 100 meters in 10.91 and third in the 200 meters in 21.98, and Konstantinos Tzirtziris was third in the 800 meters in 1:54.07.

Eric Schulz led four Sycamores in the top 10 of the 3000 meter race with a time of 8:32.48. Scott Keeney was third in 8:33.04, Craig Padgett fourth in 8:33.84, and Albaro Escalera was sixth in 8:47.84.

The Indiana State 4x100 meter relay team of Steven Swinford, Daryl Truitt, Michael Roberts, and Andrew Stull won in 41.60.

The Sycamores will be back in action next weekend when they compete in the Sea Ray Relays hosted by the University of Tennessee.