CRAIG PADGETT
GoSycamores.com
CEDAR FALLS, IA - The Indiana State University men's and women's track and field teams took different paths to get there, but at the end they both were both crowned the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference indoor champions.
The men led early into day one and never let up, as they extended their lead all the way through the finish for a big win with 151 points. Wichita State was second overall with 105 points. Southern Illinois placed third with 95 points, Northern Iowa placed fourth with 85 points, Illinois State was fifth with 81 points, Loyola placed sixth with 76 points and Drake was seventh overall with 64 points.
“A win in the Valley is always special, because we have a lot of great coaches and athletes,” said Men's Head Coach and Missouri Valley Conference coach of the year, John McNichols. “To win two in a row is a great tribute to the hard work by the athletes on this team. We really did our business yesterday, as we had 13 qualifiers for finals and the next best team had five.”
The women's side was a nail biter throughout, as the Sycamores battled Southern Illinois and Wichita State from the beginning. In the end, the Sycamores won their first Missouri Valley indoor crown since 2001 with 130 points with Wichita State in second with 116.5 points, Southern Illinois finished third with 92.50 points, Loyola placed fourth with 68 points, Illinois State was also fourth with 68 points, Northern Iowa was sixth with 67 points, Missouri State was seventh with 66 points, Bradley placed eighth with 46 points, and Drake finished ninth with 9 points.
“I think our women did a great job, as we had a tough task in front of us,” said Women's Head Coach and coach of the year, Angela Martin. “Southern Illinois and Wichita State have great teams, but we had two fantastic days. We had women pr'ing left and right, they were focused and they knew what they needed to do.
The Sycamores had four conference champions on the second day, led by sophomore Katie Wise's facility record in the 60 meter dash of 7.30 seconds. Her time puts her 13th nationally and she'll know at the end of the day if her time will place her top 16 for a spot at nationals in two weeks.
Other champions included a dominating performance by junior Carmelia Stewart in the 60 meter hurdles, as she won in a time of 8.44 seconds. Senior Greggmar Swift won yet another title in the 60 meter hurdles, as he dominated the field in a time of 7.73 seconds. Senior Mary Theisen dominated her specialty in the shot put with a toss of 56 feet 4 inches and junior Jonathan Jackson had a huge kick to win the 800 meter run in a time of 1:52.57. Sophomore Kimyanna Rudolph won were second straight pole vault championship, as she cleared 13 feet 10.50 inches.
In all the Sycamores had 14 all-conference athletes on day two of competition. They included senior Keith Housley in the 60 meter dash (second in 6.91 seconds), senior Kevin Piraino in the 400 meter dash (third in 48.65 seconds), Adarius Washington in the 60 meter hurdles (second in 7.88 seconds), freshman David Timlin in the mile (second in 4:11.18), senior Robert Webb in the heptathlon (second with 5339 points), junior Demetra Camble in the 60 meter dash (second in 7.58 seconds), freshman Alethia Marrero in the 400 meter dash (second in 55.33 seconds), sophomore Whitney Walker in the shot put (third with a throw of 48 feet 10.75 inches), and Stewart in the triple jump (second with a jump of 41 feet 1.75 inches).
The Sycamores ended up receiving multiple honors after the meet, including the women's Athlete of the Meet award, won by Carmelia Stewart for her efforts in the long jump, 60 hurdles, and triple jump. Katie Wise won the women track athlete of the meet award, Mary Theisen won the women's field athlete of the meet award, and Greggmar Swift won the men's track athlete of the meet award.
