KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
SOUTH BEND, IND. ? Indiana State senior Michael Roberts chalked up a victory in the 60 meter hurdles as the Sycamores wrapped up competition at the Meyo Invitational, hosted by the University of Notre Dame, on Saturday. Sophomore Leeann Michl led the ISU women with a sixth place finish in the 800 meters while sophomore Dustin Betz also had a top 10 finish for the men, placing second in the 3,000 meters.
“The highlight of the meet for us was Roberts' win in the hurdles,” John McNichols, Indiana State men's track & field coach, said. “It was his personal best and he did it at the right time, beating a lot of good people. He still wants to break that eight second barrier and I know that he will.”
Roberts ran a personal best 8.02 seconds to win the 60 meter hurdle finals on Saturday. He advanced to the finals with the fourth fastest time in the preliminaries on Friday (8.14) and edged out Cody Wisslead of Illinois who was second in the finals at 8.05. ISU sophomore Duane Brown was 10th in the finals with a time of 8.35. Brown had a personal best 8.25 in the preliminaries to advance to the finals with the eighth fastest time.
Betz established a new personal best in finishing second in a field of 32 runners in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:24.52. Paul Janikowski out of Windsor, Ontario, was just a tick faster on the clock, winning in 8:23.55. Sycamore senior Tyler Kent was 17th in 8:43.37.
“Betz ran a very good, very tactical race in the 3,000,” McNichols said. “He ran really smart and came out as the top collegian and second overall.”
Junior Major Clay also had a top 10 finish on the day as he placed fifth in the high jump after clearing 7'-0.5” (2.15 meters). It is the 18th time in the last 19th meets that he has gone over seven-feet.
“He didn't have his best day of jumping but he still went over seven-feet again,” McNichols said.
Junior Andrew Stull ran in the seeded 200 meters event which featured some of the best sprinters in the competition, finishing ninth with a time of 22.08. In the unseeded race, ISU senior Daryl Truitt was 13th in 22.41 and sophomore Justin Baxtron was 15th in 22.52.
Freshman Drew Gambill ran a personal best 4:17.25 in finishing 18th out of 42 runners in the mile.
Two more personal bests were established in the 400 meters with freshman Max Tuttle placing 12th out of 37 competitors with a time of 49.63 while freshman Ray Skamay was 26th in a personal best 50.39. Freshman Keenan Johnson did not establish a personal best but did run 54.93 in placing 32nd.
In the 800 meters, freshman Brad Adams was 16th in a field of 41 for Indiana State with a time of 1:54.92 with sophomore Corey Hahn 24th in 1:55.84, and senior Konstantinos Tzirtziris 27th in 1:56.40.
“It was good to get in with some tougher competition,” Angie Martin, Indiana State women's track & field coach, said. “Leeann (Michl) was the highlight of the meet for us as she won her section in the 800 meters. She has improved every time that she has run the event and really hasn't been challenged as yet. Every time someone would come up on her she would just pull away.”
Michl, a sophomore, ran a personal best 2:12.56 to capture sixth place out of 71 competitors in the 800 meters. That is the fourth fastest time in Indiana State history. Junior Kaci Smith finished 40th with a time of 2:18.98.
Senior Allison Malone ran a personal best 5:04.09 in finishing 14th out of a field of 45 runners in the mile.
“Allison ran a very good race even though the slow pace early didn't really fit into her strategy,” Martin said. “She is really fit right now and can run faster.”
The Sycamores had three competitors in the 400 meters with sophomore Stacia Weatherford placing 16th out of the 73 competitors with a time of 56.92. Freshman Shelby Higginbottom was 26th in 47.43 while senior Rachel Posey finished 54th in 59.34.
The Indiana State 4x400 meter relay team of Higginbottom, Weatherford, junior Kaci Smith, and Michl raced to a 12th place finish in 3:50.27.
“We didn't take quite as much advantage of the track as we should have but we have another meet at a big oversized track next week at Grand Valley,” Martin said. “Now that the girls are used to this type of track, I expect to see a lot faster times.”
Indiana State will be in Allendale, Mich., next Friday and Saturday as they compete in the Grand Valley Big Meet Invitational. This is the final big meet before the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships Feb. 26-27 at Northern Iowa. The Sycamores will be able to fine tune their performances at the EIU Friday Night Special on Feb. 18.
