Hutson Wins Women's Pole Vault Special;
Swift Seventh In 110 Hurdles
KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
DES MOINES, IOWA ? Indiana State junior Major Clay had his best ever finish at the Drake Relays as he finished second in the men's high jump while freshman Greggmar Swift raced to a seventh place finish in the finals of the 110 meter high hurdles during the final day of competition at the 102nd Drake Relays.
Clay cleared 7'-2.25” (2.19 meters) which was the same height he cleared a year ago in finishing third. Auburn freshman DJ Smith won the event by clearing 7'-3.25” (2.22 meters). Nebraska senior Paul Hamilton also cleared 7'-2.25” (2.19 meters) but had more misses at lower heights than Clay and was judged third. They were the only competitors over seven feet on the day.
“Clay did an outstanding job and put the pressure on the rest of the field by clearing heights on his first attempt,” John McNichols, Indiana State men's track & field coach, said. “Swift ran in just his third race of the outdoor season and continues to improve his time in the hurdles.
“This is the type of meet where you can either do really well against the competition or have problems with the competition,” McNichols said. “We have a very young team and I hope that they take what they learned here and apply it as we continue to prepare for the conference championships.”
Swift advanced to the finals with the eighth fastest time in the preliminaries, a personal best 14.44 seconds. The freshman was even quicker in today's final as he ran a personal best 14.21 to place seventh.
The Sycamore women raced in two relays today and both posted the fourth best time in school history in both events with their finish. The shuttle hurdle relay team of Stacia Weatherford, Tori Stone, Brittany Housel, and Sarah Snapp edged Kansas State to win their heat but just missed making the finals with a fifth place overall finish in 59.41. Only the top four teams advanced to the afternoon finals.
The sprint medley relay team of Shelby Higginbottom, Macey Black, Kaci Smith and Leeann Michl was 12th with a time of 3:59.10. Only the top four teams advanced to the afternoon finals.
“Both of these relays did really well and they are young,” Angie Martin, Indiana State women's track & field coach, said. “We will have of them back next year and they will continue to improve. It was a great day for competition in front of a large crowd and our girls were energized to compete. I think we gained some momentum as we continue to prepare for the conference championships.”
In the only individual event for the ISU women today, Felisha Johnson placed sixth in the hammer throw with a distance of 198'-5” (60.49 meters). Kelsey Hanley fouled on each of her first three attempts in the event and did not place.
Three relays were in action for the Indiana State me with the shuttle hurdle relay team of Max Tuttle, Michael Roberts, Duane Brown, and Maurice Lyke held off North Dakota State to win their heat but also just missed advancing to the finals with a fifth place overall finish in 59.87. The time is the fifth best in school history. Only the top four teams advanced to the afternoon finals.
The sprint medley relay team of Andrew Stull, Shaun Smith, Keenan Johnson, and Brad Adams placed 11th in the event with the eighth best time in school history of 3:27.11. The distance medley relay team of Corey Hahn, Jonathan Jackson, Konstantinos Tzirtziris, and Jeremiah Vaughan also placed 11th with the second best time in school history of 10:02.10.
In individual events, Michael Disher ran to a fifth place finish in the 3000 meter steeplechase in 9:02.21 while Dustin Betz placed eighth with a personal best time of 9:15.05. Disher also finished fifth in the event a year ago with a time of 9:02.93. Ernest Rollins came through with a sixth place finish in the men's triple jump as he went 48'-9.5” (14.87 meters).
HUTSON WINS WOMEN'S POLE VAULT SPECIAL
Former Indiana State athlete Kylie Hutson completed a successful week in Iowa by winning the women's pole vault special by clearing an American best 14'-10.25” (4.53 meters) at the 102nd Drake Relays on Saturday. Lacy Jansen (Nike) was second at 14'-6.25” (4.43 meters) and Mary Saxer third at 13'-9.25” (4.20 meters).
Hutson is the top American vaulter and has the third best jump in the world for the 2011 Outdoor season. Alana Boyd of Australia has the best outdoor vault this season at 15'-1” (4.60 meters) with Yarisley Silva of Cuba second at 14'-11” (4.55 meters). Elena Isinbaeva of Russia set the women's outdoor world record at 16'-7.25” (5.06 meters) in Zurich, Switzerland in 2009.
The former four-time NCAA National Champion did clear three straight personal bests and finished by clearing 15'-5” (4.70 meters) at the Vault at the Mall held Wednesday at the Jordan Creek Town Center.
Hutson will be competing for a spot on the USA team at the USA Track & Field Championships which will be held June 23-26 in Eugene, Ore.
