KEVIN JENISON

GoSycamores.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Five Sycamores posted wins while several others came through with career efforts as Indiana State competed in the Billy Hayes Invitational hosted by Indiana University Friday in the Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex.

The competition had a three hour rain delay that pushed the finish of the event past midnight.

“We made it up to the men's steeplechase and several of the field events before the rain came,” John McNichols, Indiana State men's track & field coach, said during the rain delay. “They moved the high jump indoors but we had more lightning in the area which means another 30 minute wait before resuming action.”

Indiana State junior Kalli Dalton ran to victory in the women's 1500 meters while sophomore Greggmar Swift won the men's 110 meter hurdles, junior Brandon Pounds captured the men's hammer throw, senior Major Clay the  men's high jump, and junior Shalesa Smith the women's triple jump.

Clay made a successful debut to the outdoor season although the men's high jump was moved indoors due to the inclement weather. The senior cleared 6-foot-11-inches (2.11 meters) to win the event with teammate Jonathon Christensen, who also returned to action after missing most of the outdoor season, cleared a personal best height of 6-foot-9-inches (2.06 meters) for third. ISU's Robert Webb was eighth and Jamal Hampton 10th, both clearing 6-foot-5-inches.

Smith won the women's triple jump with a distance of 39-feet-9½-inch (4.90 meters) which was two-feet better than second place Kendall Rush of Illinois State (37-feet-10½-inches). ISU's Carmelia Stewart was fourth at 37-feet-6½-inches (4.44 meters).

Dalton ran a personal best 4:41.00 to win the event in a close finish with Principia College's Casey Powell (4:41.84) and Indiana's Lyndsey Wall (4:42.82). ISU's Andrea Prusz was fifth (4:45.82) while Hanna Mercer finished eighth (4:45.82).

Swift dominated the finals of the men's 110 meter hurdles as he finished in 13.86, almost a half-second better than Purdue's Brandon Winters (14.215) and SIU Edwardsville's William Lindsey (14.216). The Sycamore sophomore also won the opening heat of the preliminaries in 14.24. ISU's Maurice Lyke finished fifth in 14.28 after setting a personal best of 14.10 in winning the second heat of the preliminaries.

“Maurice had an outstanding competition, especially in the preliminaries where he ran a time which should earn him a spot in the NCAA East preliminaries,” McNichols said.

Pounds had a throw of 205-feet-7-inches (62.67 meters) on his first attempt in the finals and that effort stood up to give the Sycamore the win by almost two feet. The second collegian in the competition was Illinois State's Akil Mills who was fourth overall at 194-feet-9-inches (59.35 meters). ISU's Justin Applegate finished ninth overall (seventh collegian) with a distance of 173-feet-1-inch (52.77 meters).

Stacia Weatherford finished second in the 100 meter hurdle finals with a time of 14.11 seconds after winning the first heat of the preliminaries with a time of 14.16. Layne Baggett of Miami (Ohio) won the finals in 13.87 after winning the second heat of the preliminaries in 13.80. ISU's Sarah Snapp ran 14.99 in the preliminaries and finished seventh in the finals with a time of 15.24.

Brittany Housel was edged out at the finish in the women's 400 meter hurdles as she finished second in 1:03.58. Indiana's Shana Dunkley won the event in1:03.20.

Jaquelle Spencer finished second in a very close finish in the women's 200 meters with a time of 25.01. Printassia Johnson of Illinois State won in 24.60. ISU's Patricia Merrion was 10th in 27.00.

The Sycamore women also ran well in the 3,000 meter with Jessica Zangmeister leading the charge by finishing as the second collegian (third overall) in a personal best 10:14.96. Kacie Klem was the third collegian (fourth overall) in 10:27.81 with Nicole Lucas the fourth collegian (fifth overall) in 10:50.11. Molly Hirt, competing unattached, won in 10:04.91 with Indiana's Molly Winters the top collegian at 10:08.52.

Mary Theisen placed third in the discus competition with a distance of 160-feet-10-inches (49.03 meters) and also placed ninth in the hammer throw at 167-feet-7-inches (51.08 meters). Hannah McKnight cleared a career best height of 11-feet-7¾-inches (3.55 meters) to finish fourth in the pole vault while Kelly Steffen was fifth in the long jump with a leap of 17-feet-10¾-inches (5.45 meters).

Katie Bekavac cleared a personal best height of 5-feet-2¼-inches (1.58 meters) in the high jump which was the same height cleared by Nikki Snearley and Rachael Johnson. Snearley was placed in a tie for 10th while Johnson and Bekavac tied for 14th. Rachael Johnson was eighth in the javelin at 106-feet-3-inches (32.40 meters) while India Williams competed for the first time in the event and finished ninth at 98-feet-5-inches (30.00 meters).

The Indiana State women's 4x100 meter relay of Jaquelle Spencer, Macey Black, Carmelia Stewart, and Ja'liza Prophet ran a season best time of 46.83 to finish a half second behind Illinois State (46.39). The men's 4x100 relay team of Devin Price, Kevin Piraino, Justin Baxtron, and Andrew Stull tied their season best with a 40.91 finish and third place overall. The men's relay also ran 40.91 at the Auburn Tiger Track Classic last month. Indiana won the men's relay in 40.08.

Drew Gambill led the Sycamore effort in the men's 1500 meters by finishing second in a personal best time of 3:53.51. Albaro Escalera also had a career best time of 3:56.07 to finish fourth while Craig Padgett was sixth in 3:56.96. Illinois State's Ryan Rutherford won with a time of 8:32.46.

Baxtron finished fourth in the 100 meter finals in 10.90 while ISU's Leo Cordova and Price each ran 11.02 in the preliminaries but did not run in the finals. Demarcus Brooks of Rend Lake won the finals in 10.62. Kevin Piraino was the top Sycamore in the 200 meters with a time of 22.48 that placed him ninth overall.

Ryan Dickson finished eighth in the 400 meters with a personal best time of 49.75 while Brad Adams finished the 800 meters in 1:53.33 and in 12th place, and Gabe Ocasio ran 8:38.15 to finish fourth in the 3,000 meters with Tristan Selby sixth in 8:47.12. Max Tuttle was the top Sycamore in the 400 meter hurdles with a sixth place finish in 53.14 with Ray Skamay eighth in 53.80. Andrew Sullivan was sixth in the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase in 10:10.46.

Chris Fields established another career best as he had a throw of 55-feet-7¼-inches (16.96 meters) to finish as the top collegian and second overall in the shot put competition. Eric Werskey of ConnQuest won with a distance of 60-feet-7¾-inches.

Ernest Rollins was 12th in the long jump at 21-feet-6-inches (6.55 meters) Wes Schenck led the Sycamores in the pole vault by clearing a personal best 15-feet-9-inches (4.80 meters). Jordan Colanese had a throw of 171-feet-4-inches (52.23 meters) to place seventh overall in the javelin while Justin Applegate placed 11th in the discus with a throw of 136-feet-3-inches (41.52 meters).

The men's triple jump, and the men's and women's 4x400 meter relay were not conducted.