KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
SOUTH BEND, IND. ? The small contingent of Sycamores competing at the Meyo Invitational, hosted by the University of Notre Dame, got off to a flying start Friday led by junior Craig Padgett who ran the second fastest 5,000 meter in school history in finishing seventh (the sixth collegian) out of the 35 competitor field.
Padgett finished in 14:30.17 which is a personal best for the junior and the second best in school history behind George Condy who ran 14:25.19 in 1995. Rick Sluder had the second fastest time of 14:34.79 in 2000. It is also the second fastest in the Missouri Valley Conference and the 20th fastest in the nation so far this season.
Senior Michael Disher finished 17th overall in 14:45.34 with sophomore Albaro Escalera 21st in 14:53.83. Disher has the fourth fastest time in school history of 14:37.39 which he ran a year ago. Nick Szczech of Marquette won the event in 14:17.52.
Another bright spot for the Indiana State men's team was the 4,000 meter distance medley relay team that finished second in 9:59.41. That is the best time of the season for the Sycamores in the event and moves them to the top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference. It is also the 27th fastest in the nation so far this season.
Sophomore Dustin Betz opened the competition by running 3:02 in his 1200 meter portion with freshman Keenan Johnson going 48.2 in his 400 meters, freshman Brad Adams 1:54 in his 800 meter portion, and freshman Drew Gambill posted a time of 4:13 in his 1600 meter portion of the event. Purdue won the event in 9:57.39 with Michigan State third in 10:00.92.
In other action, senior Michael Roberts and sophomore Duane Brown advanced to the finals of the 60 meter hurdles which will be run on Saturday. Roberts has the fourth fastest time entering the finals of 8.27 seconds while Brown has the eighth fastest at 8.25 seconds which is a personal best for the sophomore. Freshman Max Tuttle finished 28th (8.71). Nichols McCampbell of Michigan has the fastest time entering the finals of 8.09.
Sophomore Stacia Weatherford was the only member of the women's team in competition on Friday, finishing 22nd (the 18th collegian) in the 60 meter hurdle preliminaries (8.96). Tamika Robinson of Illinois was the fastest collegian, posting the second fastest time in the preliminaries at 8.28.
Sophomore Corey Hahn finished 16th overall (14th collegian) in the 500 meters in 1:07.48.
The Sycamores will continue action at the Meyo Invitational starting at 10 a.m. (ET). A larger portion of the Indiana State track & field teams will be competing at the Tiger Invitational, hosted by DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., starting at 11 a.m. (ET) Saturday.
Live Results: http://www.deltatiming.com/results/events_byschedule.aspx?yf=2011&mf=2011-meyo-invitational
