May 3, 2008

Results

NORMAL, Ill. - The Illinois State men's and women's track and field teams combined for 22 first-place finishes in a 38 event field to dominate competitors from Western Illinois, Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Beloit College at the Redbird Invitational held at the Redbird Track Saturday afternoon.

Illinois State head track and field coach Elvis Forde was happy with the effort that his student-athletes put forth.

"The weather out here is unpredictable, but as long as our kids are consistently putting out a good effort there is not much more that we can ask for," said Forde. "We cannot tell the sun when to shine or tell the rain when to fall, so as long as our kids give us a good effort I am happy. You have to be mentally tough and emotionally ready because the environment and conditions can drain you."

Highlighting the Redbirds performances was junior Samantha Springer who earned a regional qualifying mark and season-best in the discus throw, launching a distance of 159 feet, 8 inches to take second in the event. Gia Lewis, an unattached entry from Champaign, Ill., and former Illinois All-American (2001), won the event by shattering the Redbird Track Record by over 34 feet, throwing a distance of 196-09.

Springer went on to place first in the hammer throw (179-01) and shot put (42-02.25). The Tremont, Ill., now currently holds regional qualifying marks in both the discus and hammer throw.

Illinois State assistant track and field coach/throw Jeff Chakouian was pleased with Springer's performance and believes that she is ready to throw far.

"Overall with the conditions today it was really tough to throw," said Chakouian "I think that when Gia came out and opened up the throws it made Sam want to throw farther. I think that it was great to have Gia in the competition because she proved that it doesn't matter what the conditions are like, you still have to go out and give it your all."

In the men's throwing events, senior Anton Walczak won the hammer throw launching his second-best throw of the season and earned his second regional qualifying mark in the event with a distance of 188-10. Senior Nick Chumbley took second in the discus with a toss of 154-03. Bloomington, Ill., native and former Kansas track and field athlete Cody Roberts won the discus with a throw of 170-10 as an unattached entry.

In other field events, freshman Drew Holl won the high jump by tying his season-best and clearing a height of 6-06.75, while freshman Amanda Albrecht took first in the women's high jump (5-03).

In the men's distance events, sophomore Rob Barkulis (Bloomington, Ill.) won the 1,500-meter run with a season-best time of 4:01.33. Teammates freshman Matt Mroczynski (4:01.91) and junior Mike Richardson (4:03.48) finished the race just behind Barkulis to take second and third.

"Rob is continually getting better and he is still trying to figure out what his best event is, weather it is the 1,500 or 800," said Forde. "We think that he is physically ready to run even faster, he just has to mentally get there and I think that with time he will."

Sophomore Scott Krapf ran a season-best time of 15:00.40 to win the 5,000-meter run. Freshman John Navarro took second in the event with a time of 15:32.11.

Senior DeAndre Tillman had a strong performance in his last home meet as he took first place in three of his four events. In the 400-meter dash he clocked in with a time of 48.98, then placed second in the 200-meter with a season-best time of 22.09. His 4x100 recorded a 44.19 sec. finish, while his 4x400-meter relay squad crossed the finish line in 3:22.40.

Junior Carl Azab won the 400-meter hurdles with a season-best time of 53.96, while senior Kelley Anderson took first in the 100-meter dash with a season-best performance (11.28).

On the women's side, junior Brianna Officer won the 400-meter dash and recorded a season-best finish with a time of 57.04. Freshman Michelle Brunk took first in the 800-meter run (2:14.47), while senior Suzy Turner took third (2:18.45). Freshman Kirsten Lang tallied her first win of the season in the 3,000-meter steeplechase crossing the finish line with a personal-best time of 11:20.22.

"I think that as a freshman in the steeplechase you can see that she is excited and that is what we like," said Forde. "She is coming along and we hope that she can continue to improve throughout the year. We know that as long as their hurdling techniques and water jumps become better they are going to really improve; it is just going to take patience."

The Redbirds will be back in action next weekend as they head to the Billy Hayes Invitational, hosted by Indiana in Bloomington, Ind., Friday.