KEVIN JENISON

GoSycamores.com

CHARLESTON, ILL.  - Indiana State junior Brandon Pounds broke a seven-year-old Indiana State record in the men's weight  throw while senior Major Clay established the new Sycamore record in the high jump at the EIU Friday Night Special in Lantz Gymnasium on the campus of Eastern Illinois University.

Pounds automatically qualified for the 2012 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships as he won the weight throw Friday, joining Clay and ISU junior Felisha Johnson as automatic qualifiers.

"We knew those guys were ready to go but this was quite amazing," John McNichols, Indiana State men's track & field coach, said. "School records are hard to come by and to have two in the same meet is quite extraordinary. And we had a great vault by Swinford in the process. This was a tremendous meet for our team. Now we will see if we can keep that momentum going into the conference meet next Saturday and Sunday."

Pounds won with a personal best distance of 70'-8.5" (21.55 meters) which broke the previous record of 69'-7.5" (21.22 meters) established by Jason Carruthers in 2005. The distance also surpassed the automatic qualifying mark of 70'-6" (21.50 meters) which guarantees the junior a spot in the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championships. Pounds moved up to seventh in the nation and second in the Valley with the winning effort.

The winning effort also established the Friday Night meet record, breaking the distance of 70'-4" (21.44 meters) set by Mark Milleville of Southern Illinois in 2006, and broke the Lantz record of 68'-9.25" (21.26 meters) set by J.C. Lambert of Southern Illinois in 2011.

Clay cleared a personal best 7'-5" (2.26 meters) in winning the high jump, surpassing the former ISU record of 7'-4.5" (2.25 meters) which the Sycamore senior cleared in 2011 to share the top spot with former Indiana State great Steve Smith who cleared the height in 1991.

The height also established a new Friday Night meet record, which Clay had set in 2010 at 7'-2.5" (2.20 meters), and the Lantz record of 7'-3.25" (2.21 meters) set by Donald Thomas of Lindenwood in 2006. Clay moved up to third in the nation with the effort Friday and still leads the Missouri Valley.

ISU's Felisha Johnson, who has already qualified for the 2012 NCAA Indoors, was also a winner Friday as she took the women's weight throw with a distance of 69'-10.25" (21.29 meters). Johnson had a throw of 71'-1.25" (21.67 meters) at EIU in December to automatically qualify for the NCAA. The junior holds the Lantz record for women's weight throw at 73'-2.5" (22.31 meters).

"Overall we had a pretty good meet," Angela Martin, Indiana State women's track & field coach, said. "The team competed hard and we had some nice performances. This was a great tune-up meet as we prepare for the conference championships."

Junior Mary Theisen picked up her first win of the season as she captured the women's shot put with a personal best throw of 52'-3.25" (15.93 meters). Johnson was second at 51'-11.25" (15.83 meters) with senior Tara Perigo sixth at 46'-0" (14.02 meters).

Sophomore Valerie Burns was also a winner on the night, dominating the women's 3000 meters to win by over six second with a time of 10:15.84.

The Sycamores also did well in the hurdles on Friday with sophomore Greggmar Swift continuing his winning streak by winning the 55 meter hurdles with a time of 7.39 seconds in the finals. That is the fifth best in school history behind Chris Lancaster's school record time of 7.17 seconds set in 1990.

All three of the Indiana State hurdlers advanced to the finals. Sophomore Duane Brown finished second in the event with a time of 7.53 seconds which ties him for 11th best all-time at Indiana State. Sophomore Maurice Lyke was the fourth Division I athlete and fifth overall with a time of 7.66.

Indiana State freshman Carmelia Stewart finished as the top Division I athlete and third overall in the women's 55 meter hurdles with a time of 8.20 seconds. The freshman just missed the school record of 8.18 seconds set by Dierdra Woodley in 1996 but still has the second best time in school history.

All four of the Sycamore women hurdles advanced to the finals. Senior Sarah Snapp ran 8.48 to finish eighth overall with freshman Taylor Gilles 10th in 8.57 and sophomore Brittany Housel 13th in 8.83. Gilles ran the ninth fastest 55 meter hurdle time in the preliminaries as she finished in 8.35.

Senior Kristy Twitchell finished second by just six hundredths of a second in the women's 600 meters as she finished in 1:39.56. EIU's Paige Biehler edged Twitchell at the finish line to win the event (1:39.50). Junior Kalli Dalton and senior Kacie Klem finished fourth and fifth in the 800 meters with Dalton running a personal best 2:18.85 and Klem finishing in 2:19.01.

Freshman Ja'liza Prophet placed eighth in the 55 meters (7.35) and 16th in the 200 meters (27.09) while sophomore Toni Tillett was seventh in the 400 meters (1:01.34), and junior Hanna Mercer 10th in the mile (5:17.72).

Senior Nikki Snearley and sophomore Rachael Johnson both cleared 5'-4.25" (1.63 meters) in the high jump with Snearley awarded second and Johnson fourth. Freshman Katie Bekavac was 10th at 5'-1" (1.55 meters). Senior Nicole Hope and junior Richelle Kimble tied for third in the pole vault, both clearing 13'-2.5" (4.03 meters) while sophomore Hannah McKnight cleared a personal best 11'-3" (3.43 meters) to place sixth. Sophomore Shelby Higginbottom was fifth in the long jump with a distance of 17'-6.25" (5.34 meters).

Sophomore Devin Price and freshman Ray Humphrey both advanced to the finals of the meters with Price 13th in 6.57 and Humphrey 14th in 6.61. Junior Justin Braxton was fifth in the 200 meters with a time of 22.53, freshman Ryan Henrickson was seventh in the 400 meters (51.58), and senior Andrew Lepkowski fifth (4:20.14) and freshman Gabe Ocasio eighth (4:25.63) in the mile.

Indiana State senior Steven Swinford established a personal best in the pole vault Friday, clearing 16'-4.5" (4.99 meters) in placing sixth overall. The height moves the senior to seventh on the ISU all-time list. Junior Tucker Field placed seventh by clearing 15'-6.5" (4.74 meters) with freshman Wes Schenk eighth by clearing 15'-0.75" (4.59 meters).

Lyke was also second in the long jump with a distance of 23'-8" (7.21 meters) while Chris Fields placed sixth in the shot put at 52'-9.25" (16.08 meters), and Jonathan Christensen third in the high jump at 6'-8.75" (2.05 meters), sophomore Jamal Hampton eighth in the high jump at 6'-4" (1.93 meters) and freshman Steven Van Dyke ninth by clearing 6'-2" (1.88 meters).

The Sycamores will now gear up for the 2012 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships which will be held on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa., Feb. 25 and 26.