Sycamore men win their first ever Missouri Valley Triple Crown
KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA ? The Indiana State men's track & field team completed the Missouri Valley Conference Triple Crown in dramatic fashion Sunday, edging the Salukis of Southern Illinois by a single point to win the 2011 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship.
It was d?j? vu for many who remember the Sycamores defeating Southern Illinois for the 2010 Cross Country Championship, winning the 4x400 meter relay to edge SIU by 4.5 points to claim the 2011 MVC Indoor Championship, and defeating the Salukis by a single point to win the 2009 Cross Country title.
Indiana State laid claim to the 2011 MVC Outdoor Championship with 168 points while Southern Illinois was second with 167, Wichita State third with 163, and Northern Iowa fourth with 157 points. Illinois State finished fifth with 85 points while Drake was sixth with 67. The outdoor championship is Indiana State's seventh since joining the MVC and the first since winning the 2006 title.
“This was kind of a surprise,” John McNichols, Indiana State men's track & field coach, said. “Starting the meet we spotted them 40 points and it was a long, slow come back. We had a really great day on Saturday, got ourselves back into it, and thought that we could be runner up.
“We were tied with SIU going into the relay and Wichita state was behind,” McNichols said. “Our kids went out and ran really hard all the way. What a credit to this team. They are a talented group who gave us the best they had. We didn't have any winners today but it was a nice across the board effort. It really shows what a great, competitive group we have.”
It was a dramatic comeback for the Sycamores who had entered the day in third place with 54 points. Pre-championship favorite Wichita State led with 72 with Southern Illinois second at 68.
The Sycamores won the Missouri Valley Conference Triple Crown with their cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field championships in the same academic year. They are the first school to win the MVC Triple Crown since 1991-92 when Southern Illinois accomplished the feat. The Sycamores came close during the 1996-1997 academic year with championships in cross country and outdoor track & field.
The Indiana State women won the MVC Triple Crown during the 1993-94 academic year. The Triple Crown came during a stretch of time when the Sycamore women won eight of 10conference titles from 1991-1995. ISU nearly had a Triple Crown during the 1991-1992 academic year but lost to Illinois State at the Indoor Championship and during the 1992-1993 year when they were a close second to Southern Illinois in the cross country championship.
McNichols received his eighth MVC Outdoor Track & Field Coach of the Year award with the team victory this year (1986, 1988, 1990, 1993, 1997, 2001, 2006, 2011) and his 16th in his 28 years as the Sycamore head coach. He received his first MVC Indoor Track & Field Coach of the Year award earlier this year and has been the MVC Cross Country Coach of the Year seven times (1996, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010). Under his leadership, ISU's combined men's and women's programs have now won 27 MVC Championships (15 men's titles and 12 women's titles).
The Indiana State women held off Missouri State to take fourth in the women's team race. Pre-championship favorite Wichita State won the team title with 194 points with Southern Illinois a close second with 186.5 points and Illinois State third with 159. Indiana State finished fourth with 84 points, Missouri State fifth with 83, Northern Iowa sixth with 63, Drake seventh with 33.5, and Bradley eighth with 15 points.
“Every point counted today,” Angie Martin, Indiana State women's track & field coach, said. “We went back and forth with Missouri State all day and didn't secure fourth place until the final event. The girls really worked hard and fought well all day long. We have a great group of younger girls who will be moving up and be very competitive in the years to come.”
The exciting finish in the men's team race was equaled by an exciting finish in the men's 4x400 meter relay. The Sycamores needed a good race in the event and came within a half second of winning the event. Max Tuttle, Jonathan Jackson, Brad Adams, and Keenan Johnson ran the four legs for the Sycamores with the team finishing third in near photo finish with a season best 3:12.83.
Wichita State out leaned both Illinois State and Indiana State to win the event in 3:12.34 with Illinois State second in 3:12.77.
The Sycamore men had several earn All-Conference recognition and several athletes establish personal bests during the final day of the Outdoor Championships. All-Conference recognition is awarded to the first, second, and third place finishers in each event.
Senior Daryl Truitt finished second in the 100 meters in 10.53 seconds after running the fifth fastest time in the preliminaries at 10.73. The prelims were one of three events which were postponed on Saturday. Sophomore Justin Baxtron finished sixth in the finals (10.82) after running a personal best 10.75 in the prelims. Junior Shaun Smith was eighth in the finals after running a personal best 10.71 in the prelims.
All three Sycamores in the 200 meters established personal bests in the event which was postponed Saturday and run as a timed final on Sunday. Junior Andrew Stull placed third in the event with a time of 21.19 with Baxtron finishing in sixth at 21.74, and freshman Kevin Piraino seventh in 21.90.
Freshman Keenan Johnson was third in the 400 meter finals in 48.45 and junior Corey Hahn sixth in the 800 meter finals in 1:59.42.
Junior Jeremiah Vaughan finished the 1500 meters in third place with a time of 3:51.39 while freshman Drew Gambill was eighth with a personal best 3:55.81. Sophomore Dustin Betz finished 10th (3:59.88) and Hahn was 11th (4:00.50).
Senior Michael Disher was third in the 5000 meters with a time of 14:53.19 while sophomore Albaro Escalera was seventh with a personal best time of 14:57.43. Vaughan finished in 13th (15:22.67), Betz 16th (15:27.69), and junior Craig Padgett was 17th (15:42.40).
The hurdles were a strong suit for the Sycamores at the Valley Championships with Indiana State placing three in scoring position in both the 110 meter high hurdles and 400 meter hurdles. Freshman Greggmar Swift ran a personal best 13.96, the ninth fastest time in school history, to finish second in the 110 high hurdles while senior Michael Roberts ran a personal best 14.21 to finish fourth, and sophomore Maurice Lyke finished eighth in 15:07 after tying his personal best of 14.40 in the prelims on Saturday.
The 400 meters was postponed from Saturday and run as a timed final on Sunday. Freshman Jonathan Jackson ran a personal best 52.68, the seventh fastest time in school history, to finish second in the event while freshman Max Tuttle was fourth in 53.32, and freshman Ray Skamay ran a personal best 53.44 to finish fifth. Lyke was 10th in 57.28.
Another great finish came in the 4x100 meter relay team as the Sycamore team of Truitt, Smith, Baxtron, and Stull tied their season best time of 40.43 to finish second in the event. Indiana State was edged at the finish line by Northern Iowa (40.36) and out leaned Illinois State (40.66) in another near photo finish.
In the field events on Sunday, freshman Chris Fields gave Indiana State bonus points with a fifth place finish in the discus with a personal best throw of 163'-1” (50.33 meters). Junior Drew LaMaster and senior Steven Swinford tied for sixth in the pole vault by clearing 15'-7.25” (4.76 meters) while sophomore Tucker Field was eighth at 15'-1.5” (4.61 meters).
Junior Ernst Rollins recorded the sixth best leap in school history during the triple jump competition as he finished second with a personal best 49'-11” (15.21 meters). Freshman Marcel Hamilton had a personal best 48'-6” (14.78 meters) to finish fifth while Piraino had a personal best 45'-10” (13.47 meters) for 11th, and freshman Nigel Jolly a personal best 44'-4.25” (13.62 meters) to finish 14th.
On the women's side, freshman Shelby Higginbottom was eighth in the 400 meter finals in 57.01 after setting a personal best 56.74 in the prelims Saturday. Sophomore Leeann Michl fourth in the 800 meter finals in 2:12.22 while freshman Jessica Zangmeister ran a personal best 18:00.75 to finish 14th in the 5,000 meters.
Senior Allison Malone led the Sycamore effort in the 1500 meters by finishing seventh in 4:38.38 while junior Kacie Klem was 12th (4:46.27), junior Kristy Twitchell 13th (4:47.95), senior Kelsie Slater 18th (4:54.14), and sophomore Andrea Prusz 22nd (5:05.47).
The Sycamore women picked up a lot of points in the two hurdle events with sophomore Stacia Weatherford finishing fifth in the 100 meter hurdles in 14;32 and junior Sarah Snapp eighth in 14.78. Weatherford came back to place third in the 400 meter hurdles in 1:00.31 while freshman Brittany Housel was fifth in 1:02.62, and sophomore Tori Stone was seventh in 1:03.21.
The Indiana State 4x400 meter relay team of Weatherford, Michl, Higginbottom, and junior Kaci Smith nearly came away with All-Conference honors as they were edged at the finish by Southern Illinois. The Sycamores were timed in 3:46.07 which was just six hundredths of a second behind SIU who were timed in 3:46.01.
The Sycamore 4x100 meter relay team of Smith, sophomore Macey Black, senior Rachel Posey, and Stone finished seventh despite a season best time of 48.08.
In the field event, sophomore Shalesa Smith had a personal best jump of 39'-8.75” (12.11 meters) to finish fifth overall. The distance is the third best in Indiana State history.
Senior Kelsey Hanley placed eighth in the discus with a throw of 138-11” (42.35 meters) while sophomore Kasey Kahle had a personal best 138'-9” (42.29 meters) to finish ninth.
The championship caps the season for most of the Indiana State team with a select few advancing to the East Preliminary (the first two rounds of the NCAA Championships) in two weeks at Indiana University.
