KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
CEDAR FALLS, IOWA - Indiana State junior Felisha Johnson broke the school record in the women's shot put on the second day of the 2012 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships Sunday.
The Sycamores had three individuals claim conference championships on the final day of competition including Major Clay in the men's high jump, Ernest Rollins in the men's triple jump, and Nicole Hope in the women's pole vault.
It was another close finish between the Sycamore men and the Salukis of Southern Illinois as the two teams battled for points in each event throughout the final day of competition. Indiana State finished second with 137 points while Southern Illinois won the team title with 142.5 points, a mere five and a half point difference. Wichita State came in third with 124 points while Northern Iowa was fourth with 106, Drake fifth with 74.5, and Illinois State sixth with 73.
"It was such a disastrous day for us," John McNichols, Indiana State men's track & field coach, said. "But our men held together as a team and we had some younger athletes step up for us. With all the things we had to overcome, we still had a chance to defend our title. I was really proud of how hard the team fought today."
On the women's side, Missouri State upended defending champion Wichita State as the Bears won the team title with 132 points. The Shockers were second (129.33) with Illinois State third (124.83) and Southern Illinois fourth (88.50). The Sycamores finished fifth with 75.33 points. Northern Iowa placed sixth (72), Bradley seventh (21), and Drake eighth (20).
"The day was kind of disappointing because I thought we would move up a spot or two," Angela Martin, Indiana State women's coach, said. "We did have some bright spots today, though, and it was an exciting meet with every event contested to the very end."
One of them was Johnson who's best throw of 55'-5.75" (16.91 meters) broke the previous school record held by Christy Barrett Sherman of 55'-1.5" (16.80 meters) and set in 1991. The distance moved the junior up in the national performance rankings and in a good position to advance to the NCAA Indoor Championships in the event. The Sycamore has already qualified for the women's weight throw.
Johnson finished third in the event behind Southern Illinois' Jeneva McCall (56'-9.5") and Illinois State's Brittany Smith (56'-3.75"). ISU's Mary Theisen was fourth in the event with a personal best 53'-3" (16.23 meters).
"It is amazing to think that such a big throw that set the school record was only good enough for third at conference," Martin said. "But then the MVC does have three of the top 10 throwers in the nation."
Sycamore senior Major Clay won his third straight MVC Indoor high jump competition, clearing 6'-11.5" (2.12 meters) to become ISU's second conference champion. Brandon Childs of Wichita State was second as he also cleared 6'-11.5" but had more misses in the competition. ISU freshman Jonathon Christensen placed third by clearing 6'-9.5" (2.07 meters) and sophomore Robert Webb was fourth at 6'-7.5" (2.02 meters).
Senior Ernest Rollins won his second straight men's triple jump championship with a distance of 50'-6.75" (15.41 meters). Sycamore teammate Maurice Lyke was third in the event with a distance of 48'-8.25" (14.84 meters). Douglas Palacious of Southern Illinois was second at 49'-11.25".
Senior Nicole Hope cleared a personal best 13'-11" (4.24 meters) to win the pole vault for the Indiana State women while moving up in the national performance rankings for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. Teammate Richelle Kimble also cleared a personal best at 13'-5" (4.09 meters) to finish second in the event with Northern Iowa's Jenna Wexter third (13'-1"). ISU's Lauren Rice was 10th overall at 11'-5.25" (3.49 meters) while Hannah McKnight finished 11th at 10'-11.5" (3.34 meters).
The Sycamore women almost had a second champion as junior Leeann Michl came down the home stretch of the women's 800 meter final neck-and-neck with Wichita State's Danielle Walker. The race ended in a photo finish with Walker taking the win in 2:08.46 and Michl second in 2:08.47. Mobola Rotibi of Southern Illinois was third in 2:11.61. The junior's time was a personal best and the third fastest in school history.
Another outstanding event for the ISU women was the 4x400 meter relay team of Stacia Weatherford, Shelby Higginbottom, Macey Black and Leeann Michl. The Sycamores and Northern Iowa were shoulder to shoulder for most of the race with the Panthers gaining the advantage on the final lap and posting the win in 3;43.57. ISU was second in 3:44.75 which is a season best and the third best time in school history. Missouri State was third in 3:45.52.
Sophomore Justin Baxtron followed up a fifth place finish in the 60 meter dash finals (6.99) with a second place in the 200 meters on a personal best time of 21.75 which is eighth best all-time at Indiana State. Baxtron was less than a second behind 200 meter winner Dylan Hartnett of Wichita State who finished in 21.69 and a half second better than Dominic Williams of Southern Illinois who was third in 22.28.
Northern Iowa swept the top three spots in the 60 meters as Carlos Anderson won in 7.82, Jarred Herring second in 6.83 and Derek Kramer third in 6.95.
Greggmar Swift finished eighth in the finals of the 60 meters (7.00) but came back with a third place finish in the 60 meter hurdles (7.99) despite a sore knee. Maurice Lyke was fifth in the 60 hurdles (8.07) with Duane Brown ninth (8.19). Wichita State's Todd McKown won the hurdles in 7.88 with the Shockers Lawson Montgomery second in 7.95.
Indiana State also had three placers in the 400 meter finals led by Kevin Piraino with a fourth place finish in 49.23. Max Tuttle was sixth in 49.81 with Jonathan Jackson, who ran with a possible broken foot, finishing eighth in 1:33.21.
"Jackson is a gutsy kid and wanted to run to give the team at least a point despite the pain in his foot," McNichols said. "He was just one of a number of injuries that plagued us today including Major Clay (groin) and Greggmar Swift (sore knee)."
Wichita State's Dylan Hartnett won the 400 meters in 48.50 with Drake's Jon DeGrave second in 48.73 and Illinois State's Fabian Norgrove third in 49.01.
Corey Hahn was sixth in the 800 meter finals with a time of 1:56.08 and Dustin Betz eighth in the finals of the mile in 4:19.99. Illinois State's Matthew Smoody won the 800 meters in 1:52.52 with Southern Illinois' Stephen Arvanis second in 1:52.62, and Illinois State's Christopher Hamilton third in 1:53.56. SIU's Zach Dahleen won the mile in 4:13.64 with Wichita State's Jake Wike second in 4:15.14 and the Shockers Tomas Cotter this in 4:15.43.
A major disappointment for Indiana State came in the 5000 meters where Albaro Escalera placed third in a personal best 14:28.44. That is the second best time in ISU history behind George Condy's 14:24.19 which he ran in 1995.
"Our strength in the past has been in the distance races but we just did not have that today," McNichols said. "It really became the difference in the team race. Our guys ran well but we didn't finish well and that is the coach's fault. We will re-evaluate and get ready for the outdoor season."
Southern Illinois scored 20 points in the next-to-last event of the competition while Indiana State had just six points.
"Still we had a chance in the final relay just as it was a year ago," McNichols said. "With the injuries we had here we were not able to take advantage and win the relay."
Drake's Brogan Austin won the 5000 meters in 14:24.88 with SIU's Neal Anderson second in 14:26.22. ISU's Jeremiah Vaughan nearly broke into the scoring column as he was ninth while running a personal best 14:57.54. Craig Padgett finished 10th (14:59.34) with Tristan Selby 11th (15:01.43) and Dustin Betz 16th (15:22.13).
Brandon Pounds placed fifth in the shot put with a heave of 54'10.25" (16.72 meters) while Chris Fields finished seventh with a personal best 54'-7.25" (16.24 meters). Northern Iowa's Justin Romero won the event (59'-2.75") with Illinois State's Curtis Jensen second (59-1.5") and Southern Illinois' J.C. Lambert third (58-0.5").
Kevin Piraino, Ryan Dickson, Max Tuttle, and Remy Lewis made up the 4x400 meter relay for Indiana State and stayed with the leaders but still finished fifth in 3:20.47. Northern Iowa won in a photo finish with a time of 3:16.33 as they edged Illinois State (3:16.33) and Wichita State (3:16.49).
Both of ISU's competitors in the men's heptathlon established personal best point totals as the competition concluded today. Steven Swinford finished in sixth with 5,185 points which was just four points shy of Anthony Bertoli's school record of 5,189 points. Webb finished seventh with 5,155 points which now ranks third on the ISU All-time list.
In today's events, Swinford finished eighth in the 60 meter hurdles in 8.93, second in the pole vault by clearing 16'-0.75" (4.90 meters), and 12th in the 1,000 meters in 3:45.09. Webb finished second in the 60 meter hurdles with a personal best 8.44, 12th in the pole vault with a personal best 13'-5.25" (4.10 meters), and ninth in the 1,000 meters in 2:57.14.
Northern Iowa's Daniel Gooris won the heptathlon with 5,679 points with Wichita State's Aaron Young was second at 5,441 and the Shockers Tobias Boese was third with 5,285 points.
Jaquelle Spencer was eighth (7.71) in the finals of the 60 meter dash which was won in a photo finish by Missouri State's Ekate Lymon in 7.53 over Wichita State's Audacia Moore (7.53) and Missouri State's Merica Moncherry (7.54). Spencer ran a personal best 7.53 in Saturday's preliminaries which is the fifth fastest in school history.
Stacia Weatherford was seventh in the 200 meter finals (24.94) which was won in another close finish by Missouri State's Shantel Llewellyn (24.53) over Illinois State's Shandel Ellis (24.53) and Missouri State's Merica Moncherry (24.58). Weatherford ran a personal best 24.80 in the preliminaries Saturday which is the fifth fastest in school history.
Weatherford also finished fourth in the finals of the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.70. Drake's Marissa Smith won the event in 8.44 with Northern Iowa's Olimpia Nowak second I 8.46, and the Panthers Rachel Peth third at 8.67.
Kristy Twitchell was the top ISU finisher in the mile as she ran a personal best 5:08.84 to place 11th overall. Illinois State's Aisha Praught won the event in 4:48.69 with Missouri State's Emily Beaver second in 4:54.16 and Wichita State's Aliphine Tuliamuk third in 4:54.50. ISU's Kalli Dalton was 17th in 5:16.30 with Kacie Klem 28th in 5:23.54.
Valerie Burns led the Sycamores in the 5,000 meter by finishing 15th in 17:52.37. Aliphine Tuliamuk of Wichita State ran away with the event in 16:23.77 with Illinois State's Aisha Praught second in 17:03.96 and Bradley's Sarah McMahon third in 17:12.18.
Rachael Johnson cleared 5'-5" (1.65 meters) to finish seventh in the high jump with Nikki Snearley tying for eighth by clearing 5'-3.75" (1.62 meters). Wichita State's J'Lynn Ledesman won the event (5'-9.75') with Southern Illinosi' Kenya Culmer second (5'-8.5") and Missouri State's Gemma Smith third (5'-6").
Shalesa Smith finished seventh in the triple jump with a leap of 39'-7.75" (12.08 meters) while Carmelia Stewart soared a personal best 38'-4" (11.68 meters) to finish 10th. SIU's Malaikah Love won the event (41'-3.75") with MSU's Kimsue Grant second (40'-9.75"), and WSU's Audacia Moore third (40'-5.5").
A few of the Sycamores will be competing at the Alex Wilson Invitational, a last chance meet to qualify for the NCAA Indoors which will be held at the University of Notre Dame next Friday and Saturday. For the rest of the Indiana State team, it is time to begin training for the outdoor season.
"We have a lot of work to do to get ready for the outdoor season," Martin said. "We will have several individuals who have a shot at the NCAAs but for the rest of the team, it is time to focus on the outdoor season."
John McNichols echoed that sentiment.
"We hope to have several more individuals advance to the NCAA Indoor Championships and they will have one last shot to qualify next weekend," McNichols said. "For the rest of the team, it is time to focus on being ready for the outdoor season."
