Several Sycamores advance to Sunday finals in track events;
three events postponed due to weahter-related problems
KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA ? It may have been wet, cold, and dreary at the Mark Messersmith Track & Field Complex on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa on Saturday but it did not stop Sycamore junior Major Clay from claiming his third straight MVC title in the men's high jump as the 2011 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships completed its second day of competition.
Clay was not the only winner for Indiana State on the day as sophomore Dustin Betz led a 1-2 finish by the Sycamores in the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase. Senior Michael Disher was second.
“Overall we had a pretty good day,” John McNichols, Indiana State men's track & field coach, said. “It rained all day with temperatures in the 40s and a strong northwest wind. Basically, it just wasn't a good day for the athletes who were never able to stay warm and dry.”
The Sycamore men made a big move up the team standings and are currently third with 54 points. Pre-championship favorite Wichita State leads with 71 points while Southern Illinois is second with 68. Northern Iowa is fourth with 50, Illinois State fifth with 45, and Drake sixth with 20 points.
“We did all right today,” Angie Martin, Indiana State women's track & field coach, said. “We built a little momentum and the energy on the team is great. As bad as the weather way I think that it may have helped us in some ways. Since we have competing in these conditions for most of the season we were able to take advantage with several individuals moving up from their seeded positions.”
The Indiana State women are currently fourth in the team standings with 47 points. Southern Illinois leads with 106.5 points while pre-championship favorite Wichita State is second with 82 and Illinois State third with 71 points. Missouri State is fourth with 17 while Northern Iowa is sixth with 16, and Drake seventh with 11.5 points.
Clay won his third straight title in the high jump by clearing 6'-8.75” (2.05 meters). The junior had cleared the seven-foot mark in his last 15 meets (indoor and outdoor) but the weather was a contributing factor in that streak stopping Saturday. Indiana State received a bonus in the high jump as sophomore Robert Webb finished third by clearing 6'-4.75” (1.95 meters).
“Webb had just finished the Decathlon pole vault which was moved indoors and made two clean jumps,” McNichols said.
Betz and Disher were running in a pack through most of the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase but Betz broke away late and Disher went with him as the two finished within a second of each other. Betz picked up his first conference championship with a personal best time of 9:14.18 with Disher, who won the race a year ago, a close second at 9:15.66.
The weather conditions were not only a problem for the competitors but it was also a problem for the timing system which forced the postponement of the 100 meter, 200 meter, and 400 meter preliminaries. The failure of the timing system delayed the meet as officials tried to get the system back online.
“Eventually they just ran out of time to fix the system and finish the day's events,” McNichols said. “We used hand time for the 800 meter and 3000 meter steeplechase.”
The 100 meter preliminaries will be run at 1 p.m. (ET) Sunday with the top eight advancing to the finals later Sunday afternoon. The 200 meters and the 400 meter hurdles will be run in timed finals.
“The forecast for tomorrow is for sunshine, temperatures in the 60s, and windy,” McNichols said. “I hope the weatherman is right.”
In other results from today's action:
All three of Indiana State's entrants into the men's long jump established personal bests and placed in the top six led by freshman Nigel Jolly who placed third with a leap of 23'-10” (7.26 meters). Freshman Shayne Cureton was fourth at 23'-7.25” (7.19 meters) with freshman Marcel Hamilton was sixth at 23'-0.5” (7.02 meters).
Freshman Greggmar Swift, sophomore Maurice Lyke, and senior Michael Roberts advanced to the finals of the 110 meter high hurdles. Swift had the third fastest time in the preliminaries today at 14.34 with Lyke recording the fifth fastest at 14.40, and Roberts the sixth fastest at 14.72.
Freshman Keenan Johnson ran the fastest 400 meters in the preliminaries at 48.51 and will run in the finals on Sunday while junior Corey Hahn advanced to the 800 meter finals with the eighth best time in the preliminaries at 1:53.98. Freshman Brad Adams was ninth in the 800 meter preliminaries (1:54.07) with freshman Drew Gambill 12th (1:55.50), and senior Konstantinos Tzirtziris 17th (1:57.91).
On the women's side, senior Chenelle Martin and freshman Kelly Steffen tied for sixth in the women's high jump by clearing 5'-1” (1.55 meters) with freshman Rachael Johnson 11th also clearing 5'-1” and junior Nikki Snearley 13th by clearing 4'-11” (1.50 meters).
Sophomore Felisha Johnson placed fifth in the shot put with a throw of 51'-3.75” (15.64 meters) with junior Tara Perigo throwing a personal best 45'-10.5” (13.98 meters) to place ninth. Freshman Shelby Higginbottom was 13th in the long jump with a leap of 17'-2.75” (5.25 meters).
Higginbottom advanced to the finals in the 400 meters by running a personal best 56.74 which was the seventh fastest in the preliminaries. Sophomore Leeann Michl advanced to the finals of the 800 meters with the sixth fastest time in the preliminaries at 2:14.82. Junior Kaci Smith just missed advanced as she placed ninth in 2:17.03.
Senior Kelsie Slater was right in the midst of the battle for a top finish in the women's 3,000 meters but slipped on the wet track and ran into one of the final hurdles. She recovered to still finish with a personal best time of 11:13.59 and a ninth place finish. Junior Kristy Twitchell was 12th in 12:13.01.
Steffen, Johnson, and junior Patricia Merrion began their day with the final three events of the Heptathlon. Steffen was involved in a tight battle for the third spot throughout the day and finished fourth with a personal best 4,602 points. Johnson was ninth with 3,964 points and Merrion 10th with 2,923 points.
Merrion finished strong with a second place finish in the 800 meters with a personal best time of 2:2974. Steffen tied her personal best in the long jump as she was second at 17'-10.75” (5.45 meters) and also set a personal best in the javelin with a distance of 109'-9” (33.46 meters) and a fourth place finish in the event.
Webb opened up his day with the final five events of the Decathlon and finished eighth overall with 6,106 points. The sophomore's best finishes of the day came in the 110 meter hurdles with a third place finish in 15.44 and in the 1500 meters where he placed fifth in 5:02.29.
The final day of the championships begins at 12:00 p.m. (ET) Sunday with competition in men's pole vault and the preliminaries of the 100 meters. The competition is expected to wrap up at approximately 5 p.m. (ET) with the men's and women's 4x400 meter relay.
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