TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Indiana State Track and Field teams will open up 2019 by battling Illinois State for the Coughlan-Malloy Cup on Saturday for the 14th consecutive season. Admission to the meet is $5 cash.
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The Coughlan-Malloy cup, named for legendary head coaches Bill Malloy (Indiana State) and John Coughlan (Illinois State), is unique due to the fact that men's scores and women's scores aren't separated, but combined and the winner has the highest combined score. Indiana State is 12-2 since the series started in 2005, falling only to the Redbirds in 2006 and 2018. In individual competition, the men have only fallen in 2006 and 2018 and the women in 2012.
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Last season the Sycamores fell narrowly to the Redbirds by a score of 154-148. The men were defeated by a score of 79-72, while the women squeaked by Illinois State, 76-75.
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At their last outing, the blue and white claimed victory in convincing fashion with the men overtaking Marian (111), Butler (84) and Chicago State (44) with 147.5 points. The women finished in first with 285 points and defeated IUPUI (64), Marian (39.5), Butler (36.5) and Chicago State (26).
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Redshirt senior
Erin Reese led the charge for the Sycamores at the Indiana State Early Bird, recording the second-best toss in school history in the weight throw of 21.81m (71-06.75) en route to victory. Her mark currently leads the Missouri Valley Conference and is second in the nation.
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Cassaundra Roper completed the sweep in the throws for the women, winning the shot put with a personal-best throw of 15.55m (51-00.25). She owns the best mark in the Valley and is 10th in the NCAA.
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Elsewhere in the field,
Ayanna Morgan led the way for ISU in the long jump, winning the event with a distance of 5.71m (18-08.75).
Tasjia Thomas also won the triple jump for the women. The Kansas City native placed first with a distance of 11.53m (37-10.00), finishing right in front of teammate
Mulan Bazile who earned a mark of 10.83m (35-06.50).
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On the track for the women, the sprinters had a strong day of competition.
Shana Cooper picked-up her first win of the season in the 60-meter hurdles after clocking a final time of 7.80. Freshman
Bri Buggs stepped up in a big way and brought home the W in the 200-meter dash for the Trees, clocking a strong time of 25.55, just edging past Cooper who posted a time of 25.98.
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The 60-meter hurdles on the women's side left spectators seeing blue, as ISU placed all their hurdlers in the top-five.
Ayanna Morgan and
Allana Ince battled for the crown, but ultimately Morgan ended up taking the win at 8.57 with Ince right on her heels at 8.61. Newcomer
McKendra Hout ended up taking the third position, racing to a time of 9.08 with
Caitlyn Redmon and
Mia Mackenzie right behind her with times of 9.11 and. 9.24, respectively. Overall, the women claimed 10 individual event titles.
The men also found success at home, winning nine individual events during their last outing. Freshmen played a key role for the Sycamores as
Matthew Lewis-Banks won the 60-meter hurdles with an impressive time of 8.19. Barbados native
Stephen Griffith kept the pressure on Lewis-Banks, placing second at 8.24. Two more freshman rounded out the top-four, with
Tremaine Gonzalez and
Bryce Byrdsong finishing third and fourth at 8.51 and 8.62, respectively.
Fellow freshman
Braden Corzan raced to a win in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:22.30.
Inside the oval, the field events yielded positive results similar to those on the track.
Dearis Herron had strong day in the long jump for the men, jumping to a new personal-best mark of 7.23m (23-08.75) and a victory.
Corey DuPriest placed second overall with a jump of 6.89m (22-07.25).
Competition on Saturday is slated to begin at noon ET with the field events, with the track events scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field teams, make sure to check out
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including
Facebook and
Twitter.
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