March 25, 2006 OUTDOOR SEASON BEGINS ON THE RIGHT FOOT FOR ISU TRACK CARBONDALE, Ill. – Indiana State track and field took its show outdoors for the first meet of the season and put on quite the performance as the men ran away with the first place finish with 179.50 points, while the women seemed, at times to just miss scoring places by tenths of a second en route to a fifth-place finish with 82 points. “Overall this was a good effort today in some really chilly conditions,” men’s head coach John McNichols said after the meet. “We were able to score in almost every event and it was good to get out and get a meet under our belt to begin the season.” The men placed first in eight events with another second place finish that included an NCAA provisionally qualifying mark. The dominating effort put the men ahead of the nearest competition, host Southern Illinois, by more than 59 points. ISU throwers Jason Carruthers, Charlie Sparks and Drew Traub all threw well in their respective events. Carruthers’ distance of 190’-8” was good for second and an NCAA provision mark in the hammer throw. Sparks picked up where he left off last year in the discus with an NCAA provisional throw of 170’-10” and finished first. Traub followed suit in the shot put with a 55’-9.5” heave that was also good for first and an NCAA provisional mark. Not to be outdone by the men, senior Ebony White threw a distance of 43’-1.75” in the shot put to secure a third-place finish for the women. Sycamore senior Jordan Fife also continued his success from the 2005 outdoor season with an impressive performance in the 3000-meter steeplechase, an event that the native of Indiana garnered All-American status in 2005. Fife broke the tape at the 9:17.05 mark and completed the race on his own as he distanced himself from the pack continuously through the race. Both teams excelled in the pole vault with a combined four athletes placing in the top five. Freshman Anthony Bertoli’s first-place finish on the men’s side, clearing a height of 15’-0” was closely overshadowed by the return of senior Melissa Ullenbruch’s second-place finish on the women’s side with a mark of 12’-0”. Ullenbruch returned to competition after shattering her ankle at the beginning of the outdoor season in 2005 and showed no signs of trepidation. “Melissa returned and performed really well today after messing up her ankle at this time last year,” women’s head coach John Gartland said. “She has been working hard and is in the graduate program and it was good to see her out there.” Gartland was also pleased with vaulter Nikki Royer as she finished just behind her teammate with a mark of 11’-5.75” in third place. Jake Conn rounded out the top-five finishers in the pole vault for the teams with a fourth-place finish after clearing 14’-0”. Sophomore Lisa Barrett was a pleasant surprise for the coach after a second place finish in the javelin. Barrett, a converted high jumper, threw a distance of 124’-2” in her first collegiate competition in the event. She was matched by fellow newcomer Joshua Williams on the men’s side with his third-place finishing distance of 178’-6” also in the javelin. Indiana State jumpers continued to perform well, particularly in the triple jump despite the poor jumping conditions in Carbondale. Paladin Jordan headlined the group with a first place distance in the triple jump, covering 50’-0.5”. Yolanda Wright also soared well for the women with a third-place finishing distance of 39’-3”. Teammate Santia Spight topped Sycamore finishers in the high jump, clearing 5’-5” en route to a second place tie. Off the field, Indiana State showed its strength in the relay events with both men’s teams placing first, while the women picked up a third and fourth finish. The team of Morris, Clopton, Wright and Surry ran to a 41.53 time in the 4x100-meter relay to the delight of Coach McNichols. Morris would also run the lead leg in the men’s 4x400-meter relay team consisting of Morris, Ogburn, Mason and Edwards, finishing at 3:17.32. On the women’s side, Conway, Weide, McClendon and Bess ran to a third-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. Conway and Weide found themselves running the final legs in the women’s 4x100-meter relay receiving the baton from Bridges and Anderson on their way to a fourth-place 48.35 finish. “Overall I think we are a long, long way of where we want to be going,” Gartland added at the end of the day. “We really need to work if want to change our lot from where we finished the indoor season.” Kyle Walsh, Paladin Jordan and Sean Bowman were the remaining top finishers for the Sycamores during the competition. Walsh ran a sub four-minute time in the 1500-meter run, finishing first with a time of 3:58.41. Jordan crossed the finish line in second-place after a 54.70 time in the 400-meter hurdles. Bowman returned to the team after taking a redshirt during the indoor season to run a 14:45.81 in the 5,000-meter run on his way to a second place in the event. The men and women will be back in action next weekend at the Gatorade
Classic on the campus of Southeast Missouri State.
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