By Tyler Wooten
GoSycamores.com
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Indiana State's women's track and field team came away with a decisive 166-94 win over Northern Iowa, while the Sycamore men came in second to the host Panthers, 174-124. Both the ISU men and women were part of the five-team Mark Messersmith Invite on Saturday at the UNI-Dome.
The Sycamore women remain undefeated in scored competition this indoor season, following a win over Illinois State on Jan. 15 to help ISU retain the Coughlan-Malloy Cup. Today's victory came on the backs of sprinter Chidera Obasih – both the 60 and 200 meter dash champion on Saturday – as well as others like Jamie Newsome (long and triple jump), Kimyanna Rudolph (pole vault), Brooke Moore (3,000 meters) and LeVisa Evans (high jump).
Once again, though, the limelight fell on the senior sprinter Obasih as the day wore on. The Brookfield, Wis., native set new career-bests in both the prelims and finals of the 60 meter dash, blazing to a 7.37 and then 7.36 finals time for the win. She remains third all-time at ISU behind seven-time NCAA Champion Holli Hyche (7.21) and All-American teammate Katie Wise (7.25), but now rests within striking distance of qualifying for the indoor national meet in a tie for 18th on the national list.
She wasn't done there, though, as Obasih won the 200 meter dash in her first 200 race of the season. She clocked in the third-best time in the Valley this season in the process as well, winning at a time of 24.33 seconds.
Also getting in the winning spirit was senior All-American pole vaulter Kimyanna Rudolph. The senior Indianapolis native shook off the rust and cleared a season-high 4.00m (13-01.50) for the win, the No. 2 height in the Missouri Valley this indoor season. The win is an impressive one for Rudolph, who was down to her last attempt on her first bar. More impressive was her clearance of 4.00 meters, during which she clipped the bar, which jumped up a full inch before falling right back into place on the standard for the win.
The Sycamore women dominated the 3,000 meter race, as freshman Brooke Moore and sophomore Taylor Austin took the top two spots in the race at very impressive times. In her first career 3K, Moore ran the eighth-fastest time in school history at 9:57.49, and was closely followed by Austin's 9:59.84 – which only falls five-hundredths of a second shy of cracking the all-time top-10 as well.
Also winning yet again was junior LeVisa Evans in the high jump. Evans cleared 1.68m (5-06.00) for the win, and was also joined by scorer Ioanna Koltsidou in fifth place (1.58m/5-02.25).
In the women's 60 meter hurdles, sophomore Patrycja Dziekonska ran two season-best times en route to a third-place finish. Dziekonska ran 8.81 in the prelims before exploding for a 8.74 time in the finals – the seventh-best time in the Valley this season.
Sophomore Jamie Newsome earned a wealth of points in both the long and triple jumps. In the long jump this morning, she leapt an indoor PR of 5.95m (19-06.25) – the No. 1 jump in the MVC this season and No. 46 in the NCAA. She was also joined by three fellow scorers in Mandy Jones (fourth, 5.67m/18-07.25), Kaisha Martin (fifth, 5.62m/18-05.25) and Darian Mehne (sixth, 5.61m/18-05.00).
Newsome was also a force in the triple jump, where she finished runner-up again at 12.02m (39-05.25).
ISU also gained quite a haul in the women's mile, with sophomores Jessi Conley (second, 4:59.88) and Brittany Neeley (third, 4:59.94) finishing second and third, respectively, while breaking the five-minute barrier. With conversions, those times could break 4:57 on the national and conference lists later this week.
It was also a very productive day in the throws, where both Katelyn Rutz and Cassundra Roper scored in both the weight throw and shot put. Rutz was the runner-up in the weight at 18.03m (59-02.00) and the fifth-place finisher in the shot at 13.66m (44-09.75), while Roper posted PRs in both the shot (second place, 14.40m/47-03.00) and weight (sixth place, 17.04m/55-11.00).
“We had some really good performances today,” said ISU women's head coach Angela Martin. “This was exactly the kind of meet that we needed to pull together and realize what we need to do in the next couple weeks. We had some very solid wins, and we showed a lot more defiance than what we have shown up until this point in the season.”
On the men's side, there were four event winners and several impressive performances, but perhaps none more so than senior pole vaulter and Terre Haute native Connor Curley.
Curley had an unbelievable day in the vault, ending up as the victor at the second-best height in school history at 5.30m (17-04.50). This height came after setting a new PR anyway at 5.20m (17-00.75), and he barely missed at breaking the school record and entering the NCAA top-five this season at 5.41m (17-09.00). However, Curley's height today still ranks tied for 16th nationally and ranks first in the Missouri Valley by nearly six inches.
It was also another strong day in the 60 meter hurdles. Senior All-American Adarius Washington tied his season-best in prelims at 7.86 before winning the event at 7.87. Junior teammate Marcus Neely was the runner-up, though, and now joins Washington in the sub-8.00 club after running 7.91 in prelims and 7.99 in finals. Neely now ranks seventh all-time at ISU, giving men's head coach John McNichols three active Sycamores on the illustrious top-10.
Neely also now ranks second in the Valley this season behind Washington and 23rd in the NCAA.
Junior jumper Devyn Mikell had a huge day in the long jump, winning the event at a season-best leap of 7.47m (24-06.25). He now ranks second in the Valley by three-quarters of an inch behind Wichita State's Jared Belardo (7.49m/24-07.00). Also scoring was Scott Schreiber in third place (7.02m/23-00.50).
The Sycamore men were also able to go one-two in the men's high jump. Sophomore Jamie Murtaugh won yet again, this time clearing 2.04m (6-08.25) for the win. Teammate DeSean Prentice was the runner-up at 1.95m (6-04.75).
The Sycamore men were also able to replicate the success of the Sycamore women in the mile race. Freshman Quentin Pierce started out in dead last on his first couple laps and then exploded to a runner-up finish at a PR of 4:16.21. Junior Daniel Swem also clocked in a career-best at 4:18.30.
The ISU men also received some points from the throws from Ryan Chestnut in the weight throw (second place, 17.97m/58-11.00, season-best) and from Jamar Brown (third place, 16.79m/55-01.00) and Vince Laconi (fifth place, 15.13m/49-07.75) in the shot put.
“We had some really good events today,” McNichols said. “The hurdles went well. We went one-two and I'm really excited about the improvement both guys made, especially Marcus. He had a nice breakthrough, that 7.91 is pretty tough. Obviously in the pole vault with Connor going 17-04 and a half, that's obviously up there on our all-time list. He's doing a great job and has a lot of great things ahead.”
“We had a letdown in a few events, though, and kind of let Northern Iowa reel us in from an early lead and then they ended up beating us pretty good,” McNichols said. “Hats off to them, but we're still trying to put things together and we have four weeks to do it.”
Up next, Indiana State travels upstate to South Bend, Ind., for the Meyo Invite hosted by the University of Notre Dame on Feb. 5-6.
OTHER INDIANA STATE SCORERS
Women's 60 Meter Dash:
2. Demetra Camble – 7.71f – 7.76p – both season-bests
3. Kaisha Martin - 7.75f – 7.73p – both season-bests
5. Arielle Borders – 7.90f – 7.85p
Men's 60 Meter Dash:
4. Scott Schreiber – 6.96f – 6.92p – Season-Best – 7th MVC
7. Tristan Parmley – 7.07f – 6.96p
Men's 200 Meter Dash:
3. Carl McQuay – 22.25 – Season-Best
5. Adarius Washington – 22.41
Women's 400 Meter Dash:
6. Oschtishia Jackson – 58.46
Men's 400 Meter Dash:
3. Tyrell Dowdell – 49.69
Women's 800 Meters:
3. Aleksey Green – 2:14.60
5. Brittany Neeley – 2:15.65
Men's 800 Meters:
6. Blake Kramer – 1:55.79
Women's 4x400:
1. 3:49.86
Men's 4x400:
4. 3:21.96
Women's 60 Meter Hurdles:
6. Micaela McLean – 9.01f – 8.94p
7. Taylor Gilles – 9.33f – 9.25p
Men's 60 Meter Hurdles:
5. Grant Stamm – 8.32f – 8.37p
Women's Pole Vault:
6. Kim Jackson – 3.55m (11.07.75) – PR
Men's Pole Vault:
4. Riley Smith – 4.60m (15-01.00)
Women's Triple Jump:
5. Ethanity Dunn – 11.61m (38-01.25)
Men's Triple Jump:
4. Malik Jenkins – 13.93m (45-08.50)
6. Devyn Mikell – 13.69m (44-11.00)
Women's Shot Put:
3. Whitney Walker – 14.30m (46-11.00)
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track and Field team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.
