April 8, 2006 MEN FINISH FIRST, WOMEN SECOND AT BIG BLUE CLASSIC CHARLESTON, Ill. – Indiana State fell just short of sweeping first-place for a second consecutive week with a second-place finish by the women and first-place finish for the men at the Big Blue Classic. The men finished the three-day competition totaling 287 points while the women finished just behind Illinois State (184) in second with 140.5 points. Conditions in Charleston were windy and cold and affected many of the outcomes during the event. Both coaches commented that although the weather did inhibit the athletes, the competition was still strong. “I was very disappointed with our effort today and if we would have done better we could have won a meet for a second week in a row,” women’s head coach John Gartland said. “I don’t think we stepped up like we needed to today in some of the events.” Indiana State’s field events kept the women in the running for most of the meet with Sycamore jumpers placing first in every event. Yolanda Wright covered 39’-1.75” in her first-place finish in the triple jump, Samantha McClendon bounded 18’-4.25” en route to a first-place finish in the long jump and Santia Spight finished the sweep in the jumping events, clearing 5’-3” in a first-place finish in the high jump. Melissa Ullenbruch and Nikki Royer went one-two in the pole vault for the second week in a row after each athlete cleared 11’-11.75”. The height was a season-best mark for Royer and a top-two finish for Ullenbruch for the third consecutive week. “Laura Engle ran better than she has been in a while and ran a very calculated race in her first-place finish in the 1,500-meter run.” Gartland said of the junior. Engle was the lone first-place finisher on the track for the women on the second day of competition. Sean Bowman also performed well for the men in the 1,500-meter run with a second-place finish in the event with a time of 3:56.80. The men also finished in the front of the pack in the sprints during the final day of competition on the track. Nigel Bigbee finished second in the 110-meter hurdles (14.64) after trailing ISU assistant coach Aubrey Herring who finished first in the event with a time of 13.70. In the 200-meter dash Jerry Clopton finished in first-place with a time of 21.73 while teammates Damani Morris and Logan Edwards finished one-two in the 400-meter dash, crossing the line in 49.08 and 49.28 respectively. Indiana State’s throwers placed first in the shot put and discus for a second consecutive week. Drew Traub threw a first-place mark of 56’-10.25” in the shot put and Charlie Sparks’ distance of 174’ in the discus also put him in first. Brandon Wash, in his first outdoor competition this season, covered 23’-2” en route to a first-place finish in the men’s long jump. Teammate Paladin Jordan, competing in the triple jump placed second in the event with a mark of 48’-6.75”. Jake Conn and Anthony Bertoli were the final top finishers for the men in the field events with a second and fourth-place finish in the pole vault after clearing a height of 15’-1”. Both relay teams also recorded top finishes with the team of Bigbee, Clopton, Edwards and Morris finishing first in the 4 x 100-meter relay with a time of 42.62. Clopton, Morris, Hack and Edwards teamed together to finish second in the 4 x 400-meter relay finishing in 3:18.15. The men and women will return to action next week and compete in their only home meet this season when they host the Pacesetter Invitational. Throwing events will begin on Friday at Marks Field, while track events will be held on the campus of Rose Hulman on Saturday. Men’s scores Women’s scores
|