KEVIN JENISON

GoSycamores.com

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - In a prelude to what might be seen at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships, five Sycamores posted top five finishes against some elite competition Friday at the Don Kirby Collegiate Elite hosted by the University of New Mexico and contested in the Albuquerque Convention Center.

The women's shot put competition featured six of the top 25 throwers in the nation with ISU's Felisha Johnson, ranked 10th, taking third place with a distance of 54'-4" (16.56 meters). Sycamore's Mary Theisen, ranked 22nd, was fifth at 52'-2" (15.90 meters). Seventh ranked Whitney Ashley of San Diego State won with a toss of 55'-7.5" (16.95 meters).

Six of the top 20 athletes in the women's weight throw were on hand with Johnson, ranked second, finished fifth in the competition with a distance of 67'-2" (20.47 meters) and Theisen moving up from 101st to 81st with a personal best 59'-4" (18.08 meters) which placed her ninth in the competition. Kelly Close moved into third on the national performance list with a winning throw of 70'-11.25" (21.62 meters).

"Felisha started out as well as she has done all year long," Erin Gilreath, Indiana State assistant coach, said. "She was very technical and very powerful. I think she let early fouls get into her head a little bit but we are keeping our eye on the prize which is the NCAAs."

Indiana State's Greggmar Swift ran in a strong 60 meter hurdle field which included Swifts' countryman Shane Brathwaite who currently runs for Texas Tech. Both are tied for 10 th on the national performance list were featured in the opening heat of the preliminaries with Brathwaite winning in 7.83 and Swift second in 7.91.

The Barbados natives were upended in the finals by Ohio State's Demoye Bogle, ranked eighth nationally, with a winning time of 7.74 seconds. Swift was fourth overall (third collegian) with a time of 7.81 while Brathwaite was third overall (second collegian) in 7.80.

"Greggmar ran a very smart race against some great competition," John Gartland, Indiana State assistant track & field coach, said. "He got out well, ran well, and was pretty clean through the race. He has a great shot at making the NCAAs."

A strong field was also featured in the high jump where Sycamore freshman Jonathan Christensen established a personal best by clearing 6'-9.75" (2.08 meters) to finish fifth in the competition and move him up to 79th in the national rankings. Indiana State senior Major Clay, who has already qualified for the NCAAs with the fourth best height on the national performance list, cleared 6'-11.75" (2.13 meters) on Friday to fourth.

"Jonathan has made significant progress this season and he was clean throughout the competition," Gartland said. "Major had a real tough day and his leg never did come back from what we did last week."

Bryan McBride of Arizona State, ranked third nationally, won the event by clearing 7'-5" (2.26 meters) with Dwight Barbiasz of Florida, ranked seventh, clearing 7'-3.25" (2.22 meters) for second.

Junior Brandon Pounds also brought home a fifth place finish with a throw of 65'-4.75" (19.93 meters) in the men's weight throw. Pounds was beaten by four members of the top 10 in the national performance list including fourth ranked Alec Faldermeyer of UCLA who won the event with a distance of 70'-11.25" (21.62 meters). Pounds is ranked 11th nationally.

"It was not his best meet of the year but considering the distance we had to travel for this meet, it was not that bad," Erin Gilreath, Indiana State assistant coach, said. "We are really looking forward to next week for him to reach that qualifying mark to advance to the NCAA Championships."

The Sycamores will round out their pre-MVC Championship schedule next Friday when they compete at the EIU Friday Night Special.