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Redbird Track and Field Captures Five Titles in Day One at EIU
April 4, 2008 CHARLESTON, Ill. - The Illinois State track and field team captured five individual titles in the first day of competition at the Eastern Illinois Big Blue Classic held at O'Brien Stadium in Charleston, Ill. In the first individual running event of the afternoon, junior Mike Richardson claimed his second title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase crossing the finish line in nine minutes, 19.5 seconds, while teammates freshmen John Navarro (9:38.40) and Jon Roberts (9:41.40) took third and fourth, respectively with personal-best times. On the women's side in their first steeplechase, freshmen Jess Husted (11:39.50) and Kirsten Lang (11:43.30) claimed first and second place while junior Stacey Turilli (12:12.20) crossed the finish in third. Head Illinois State track and field coach Elvis Forde felt that overall the day was a success despite the weather. "Mike had a very good run today despite the elements, said Forde. "He took control of the race very early. Navarro and Roberts had a great first race and now that they have this race under their belts we will see them drop a lot of time. The same can be said for the women in the steeplechase. At first Jess and Kirsten looked wide-eyed, but after they made it over the first water barrier I think they felt more comfortable." In other distance running events juniors Brian Syring and Ryan Lay both posted personal-best times in the 10,000-meter run to place fourth and fifth. Syring crossed the finish line in 32:27.97, dropping almost two minutes from his previous best, while Lay clocked in with a time of 32:47.00.
In the men's throwing events, senior Anton Walczak captured the title in the hammer throw with a distance of 183 feet, three inches, while senior Bryan Chancellor placed third (171-09) and freshman Colin Fane (152-03) sixth. Freshman Danny Lindsey threw a personal-best in the javelin launching 166-06 for second place. In the women's throwing events, junior Samantha Springer took first in the hammer throw launching a distance of 175-10, while freshman Sonja Zoric threw a personal-best 151-00 to take fifth. Senior Frannie Epps claimed third in the javelin with a throw of 122-06. "Once again the throwers had a good performance," said Forde. "Even after a strenuous workout yesterday they were still able to produce. I think that it demonstrates they are coming along very well." Freshmen Robert Kamentsev and Chris Kirtz took first and second in the long jump, postings performances that reached 22-06.25 and 22-04.50, respectively. Day two of the EIU Big Blue Classic is set to begin at 10:30 a.m. with the field events; running events will get underway at 11 a.m. |
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