April 24, 2008

Results

DES MOINES, Iowa - In the first day of competition at the 99th Annual Drake Relays, Illinois State track and field senior Suzy Turner ran to a ninth-place finish in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 17:12.67 in deceptively hot and humid conditions on the Jim Duncan track in Drake Stadium Thursday evening.

Illinois State assistant track and field coach/distance Jeff Bovee felt that the heat really affected all the distance performances, but was happy with Turners efforts.

"Suzy gave her all in the race," said Bovee. "She was on pace to get a regional qualification mark at the half way point of the race, but just like everyone else towards the end of the race she started to fade. Today was a great opportunity for her to run against tough competition and I was pleased with her effort. I think that she has positioned herself to be a leading contender for the conference title in the 5K and in the1,500-meter run."

Sophomore Kim Ebbesen ran a time of 39:17.55 in the 10,000-meter run to place 14th, while freshman Sarah Glowacki was unable to finish the race due to dehydration and heat exhaustion.

The Redbirds will be back in action tomorrow at the Drake Relays. The Redbirds first event is scheduled to begin 9:32 a.m., with the preliminaries of the women's 4x100-meter relay.