KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA - Indiana State sophomore Maurice Lyke is Indiana State's first conference champion of the 2012 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships while several other athletes advanced to the second day of competition as the first day came to close in the UNI Dome on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa.
Lyke won the men's long jump with a leap of 24'-1.75" (7.36 meters) as he out jumped Dan Karis of Drake (23'-10") and Douglas Palacious of Southern Illinois (23'-6") to take the title. ISU sophomore Robert Webb also provided points for the Sycamores with a seventh place finish at 22'-8" (6.91 meters). Senior Ernest Rollins placed 13 th with a leap of 22'-8" (6.61 meters).
The Sycamore men are currently second in the team race with 43 points as they trail Southern Illinois who ended the first day with 54.5 points. Northern Iowa stands third with 29 points with Drake accumulating 25 for fourth, Wichita State 23.5 for fifth, and Illinois State 17 for sixth.
Illinois State leads on the women's side with 42 points followed by Wichita State (41), Southern Illinois (36), Missouri State (25), Northern Iowa (20), Indiana State (16), Bradley (nine), and Drake (six).
Only five events were completed on the men's side with preliminaries run in the 60, 200, 400, 800 and 60 meter hurdles.
Indiana State junior Brandon Pounds finished second in the men's weight throw with a distance of 68'-9" (20.95 meters). Southern Illinois' J.C. Lambert won the event with a distance of 70'-9.25" (21.57 meters) with Akil Mills of Illinois State third at 67'-4.75" (20.54 meters). ISU sophomore Chris Fields was 13th at 56'-7.25" (17.25 meters).
Senior Jeremiah Vaughan finished a close second in the 3,000 meters with a time of 8:34.86 with Wichita State's Tomas Cotter edging the Sycamore with a time of 8:34.32. Drake's Brogan Austin was third in 8:35.05. Sycamore junior Albaro Escalera was sixth in 8:38.99 with junior Dustin Betz eighth in 8:43.30. Senior Craig Padgett was 12th in 8:49.58.
Senior Steven Swinford cleared a personal best 16'-4.75" (4.99 meters) to place fourth in the pole vault while junior Dexter Childress also cleared a personal best at 16'-0.75" (4.90 meters) to finish eighth. Junior Tucker Field and freshman Wes Schenk each cleared 15'-5" (4.70 meters) to tie for 12th.
The other completed event on the men's side was the distance medley relay where senior Andrew Lepkowski, freshman Arqeil Shaw, freshman Remy Lewis, and freshman Gabe Ocasio finished fourth in 10:21.75. Southern Illinois won in 10:04.18 with Northern Iowa second (10:07.58) and Drake third (10:17.56).
The men's heptathlon completed four of the seven events Saturday with Webb standing in fourth with 2,943 points and Swinford fifth with 2,929 points. The 60 meter hurdles, pole vault, and 1,000 meters round out the heptathlon events on Sunday.
In Saturday's event, Webb finished sixth in the 60 meters (7.22), second in the long jump (23'-2.5"), 12th in the shot put (34'-4"), and third in the high jump (6'-6.26"). He established personal bests in the long jump and shot put. Swinford was third in the 60 meters (7.03), fifth in the long jump (21'-10"), 11th in the shot put (36'-5.75"), and tied for fourth in the high jump (6'-2.75"). He established personal bests in the 60 meters and long jump.
Junior Justin Baxtron advanced to Sunday finals in two events Saturday, placing fifth in the 60 meter preliminaries with a personal best time of 6.88, and placing second in the 200 meter preliminaries with a personal best time of 22.02.
Sophomore Greggmar Swift ran his first 60 meter race as a Sycamore and advanced to the finals with a time of 6.88. He also advanced to the finals of the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.16. Lyke also advanced to the finals of the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.13.
Three Sycamores will be running in the finals of the 400 meters with sophomore Kevin Piraino finishing in 49.63, sophomore Max Tuttle 49.68, and freshman Jonathan Jackson 49.89. Tuttle won the fourth heat and Jackson the third heat while Piraino advanced on time after finishing second in the sixth heat.
Also advancing was junior Corey Hahn in the 800 meters as he finished fourth in the first heat but advanced with a time of 1:53.91.
Five events were also completed on the women's side Saturday.
Sophomore Kalli Dalton, junior Macey Black, senior Kristy Twitchell, and senior Kacie Klem combined to earn All-Conference recognition with a second place finish in the women's distance medley relay. The ISU relay team finished in 11:53.82 which is the fifth fastest time in school history. Illinois State won the event in 11:49.46 while Bradley was third in 11:55.57.
Junior Felisha Johnson placed third in the women's weight throw with a distance of 68'-10.5" (20.99 meters). Southern Illinois' Jeneva McCall won the event with a distance of 76'-9" with Illinois State's Brittany Smith second at 69'-4". ISU junior Mary Theisen placed 12th at 57'-4.75" (17.49 meters) with junior Kasey Kahle 15th at 54'-10.25" (16.72 meters).
Senior Jaquelle Spencer earned the Sycamores a point in the long jump with an eighth place finish on a leap of 18'-6.5" (5.65 meters) which tied her personal best. Missouri State's Kimsue Grant won the event at 19'-11" with Wichita State's Audacia Moore second at 19'-8", and Southern Illinois' Malaikah Love third at 19'-6.75".
ISU freshman Kaisha Martin was ninth overall with a personal best 18'-5" (5.61 meters), sophomore Shelby Higginbottom 11th at 18'-1" (5.51 meters), and sophomore Kelly Steffen 14th at 17'-10.25" (5.44 meters).
Sophomore Jessica Zangmeister finished 15th in the 3,000 meters with a time of 10:28.33. Wichita State's Aliphine Tuliamuk won the event in 9:38.24 with Illinois State's Aisha Praught second in 9:46.05,and Illinois State's Elise Sigg third in 9:56.15.
The other completed event was the women's pentathlon where Steffen finished eighth with 3,338 points, junior Patricia Merrion 10th with 2,952 points, and junior Tori Stone 11th with 2,950 points. Southern Illinois' Malaikah Love won the event with 4,092 points with Northern Iowa's Olimpia Nowak second with 4,067, and Wichita State's Tanya Friesen third with 3,726 points.
Steffen finished ninth in the 60 meter hurdles (9.36), fourth in the high jump (5'-4"), fifth in the long jump (17'-10.75"), 12th in the shot put (28'-4.5"), and 10th in the 800 meters (2:34.40). Merrion was 12th in the 60 meter hurdles (10.21), 11th in the high jump (4'-7.25"), ninth in the long jump (16'-7"), 11th in the shot put (28'-8.5"), and fourth in the 800 meters (2:27.56). Stone finished eighth in the 60 meter hurdles (9.18), 11th in the high jump (4'-7.75'), 11th in the long jump (15'-1.5"), 10th in the shot put (30'-7"), and 12th in the 800 meters (2:37.50).
Two Sycamores advanced to the finals of the 60 meter hurdles including Spencer who ran the fifth fastest 60 meter time in school history of 7.53 to advance to the finals. Martin also advanced with a time of 7.61. Freshman Demetra Camble just missed the finals despite running a personal best 7.67 and finishing ninth.
Junior Stacia Weatherford advanced to the finals of the 200 meters with a personal best time of 24.80 which is the fifth fastest in school history. She also advanced to the finals of the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.61.
Junior Leeann Michl advanced to the finals of the 800 meters as she ran 2:11.36 which was the second fastest in the preliminaries.
Black and Higginbottom both failed to advance to the finals in the 400 meters as Black was 11th in 57.61 and Higginbottom 12th in 57.73. Freshman Carmelia Stewart just missed advanced in the 60 meter hurdles as she tied her personal best at 8.77 in finishing ninth overall.
Competition resumes at 10:30 a.m. (ET) Sunday with the men's heptathlon 60 meter hurdles followed by the pole vault at 11:15 a.m. (ET), and the 1,000 meter run at 1:15 p.m. (ET).
Field events open at 12:30 a.m. (ET) with the women's triple jump while the track events start at 2 p.m. (ET) with the women's mile. The action is scheduled to close out at 4:35 p.m. (ET) with the men's 4x400 meter relay.
