KEVIN JENISON

GoSycamores.com

SOUTH BEND, Ind.  - Felisha Johnson continued to dominate the women's weight throw as she set a new Meyo Invitational record in winning her third weight throw competition in five meets this indoor season. ISU's Brandon Pounds and Maurice Lyke were also winners after the first day of competition in the Meyo Invitational on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

Johnson won the weight throw for the third time in five meets this season with a distance of 67'-10" (20.69) more than a foot better than second place Alexis Thomas of Ohio State who went 66'-1" (20.15 meters). The winning throw broke the meet record of 64'-7" (19.70 meters) set by Maryland's Ruth Kura in 2002.

Two other Sycamore throwers placed in the top 12 in the field of 49 competitors with Mary Theisen placing eighth at 56'-11" (17.36 meters) and Kasey Kahle throwing a personal best 54'-11" (16.74 meters) to finish 12th.

Pounds also won his third weight throw event in five meets this season with a throw of 66'-11" (20.40 meters) which was just short of his personal best of 67'-7.5" (20.61 meters) set at the Indiana State-Illinois State dual meet in January. Chris Fields placed eighth in the field of 35 competitors at 57'-3" (17.47 meters).

Lyke won his third long jump competition in four tries this season and was the top collegian in the event with a leap of 24'-2.25" (7.37 meters) which ranks ninth on the ISU All-Time list. Taylor Stewart of the London Track & Field Club won the event at 25'-5.5" (7.76 meters) while another member of the London team, Damian Warner, actually tied Lyke at 24'-2.25".

Two Indiana State hurdlers will carry the blue and white into Saturday's finals after each advanced with solid performances in the preliminaries Friday at the Meyo Invitational on the campus of the University of Notre Dame.

Greggmar Swift posted the fastest time of the day in the men's 60 meter hurdles, cruising into Saturday's two-section final with a time of 7.79, just two-hundredths of a second slower than his personal best of 7.77 set at the ISU-Purdue dual meet in January. The finals will be run in two sections starting at 2:50 p.m. (ET).

Stacia Weatherford won the fourth heat of the women's 60 meter hurdles and advanced to Saturday's finals with a time of 8.70, the fifth fastest overall in the preliminaries. The finals will be run in two sections starting at 2:40 p.m. (ET) Saturday.

The Sycamores also had good races with their other hurdlers in the competition Friday.

Carmelia Stewart just missed advancing to the finals of the women's 60 meter hurdles, running a personal best 8.94 in the preliminaries to tie for 13th out of the 42 runners with the top 12 advancing to the two section finals. Stewart tied Sarah Omotayo of Southern Mississippi in time as each finished four-hundredths of a second slower than the final qualifier, Akira McSwain of Alabama-Birmingham who ran 8.90. ISU's Tori Stone was 33rd in 9.43.

Duane Brown ran 8.20 in the preliminaries and just missed a trip to the finals by three-hundredths of a second. Brown was 14th out of the 39 runners with the top 12 advancing to the two-section finals which will be run at 2:50 p.m. (ET) Saturday. Lyke finished 26th in 8.41. Matt Brisson of Western Ontario was the final qualifier, finishing 12th with a time of 8.17.

Senior Jaquelle Spencer finished 15th out of 54 runners in the women's 60 meter hurdle preliminaries, just a hundredth of a second out of advancing to the finals on Saturday. Freshman Demetra Camble ran a personal best 7.76 to finish 19th overall while freshman Kaisha Martin was 36th in 7.88.

Weatherford also finished sixth out of 47 runners in the women's 500 meters with a time of 1:14.97. Brittany Housel ran 1:20.67 (40th) while Tori Stone finished in 1:22.40 (43rd).

Spencer also finished 18th out of 49 competitors in the women's long jump with a career best leap of 18'-6.5" (5.65 meters). Shelby Higginbottom went 17'-3.25" (5.26 meters) to finish 35th.

Hanna Mercer and Ashley Name ran personal bests in the 1000 meters with Mercer at 3:05.31 (32nd) and Name 3:23.52 (36th).

Arqeil Shaw ran the fifth fastest 500 meters in school history as he placed eighth with a time of 1:05.45 while Ryan Dickson has the ninth fastest at 1:06.12 in placing 14th. Ryan Henrickson was 23rd in 1:08.23.

Leo Cordova was the Sycamores top finisher in the men's 60 meter preliminary as he ran 7.01 to finish 14th out of the 46 sprinters and less than a second out of a place in Saturday's finals. Justin Braxton was right behind Cordova with a 16th place finish in 7.02 while Andrew Stull was 24th in 7.08.

Craig Padgett was 11th in the men's 5000 meters (14:35.60) while Albaro Escalera finished 13th (14:45.09). Dexter Childress placed 15th in the pole vault by clearing 15'-11.25" (4.86 meters) with Steven Swinford 20th at 15'-3.5" (4.66 meters). Robert Webb had a personal best leap of 22'-5.75" (6.85 meters) to place 21st in the long jump with Ernest Rollins 22nd at 22'-3.5" (6.79 meters) just a quarter of an inch off his personal best. Braylon Gagnon threw 45'-7" (13.90 meters) to finish 21st in the weight throw.

Competition resumes at 10 a.m. (ET) Saturday with the men's and women's 3,000 meter run. The final event, the 4x400 meter relay, is scheduled to start at 4:50 p.m. (ET).

Meyo Invitational Live Stats: http://www.deltatiming.com/results/events_byschedule.aspx?yf=2012&mf=2012-meyo-invitational