By Tyler Wooten
GoSycamores.com
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite several impressive individual performances, Indiana State men's and women's track and field both finished fourth at the conclusion of the Tom Botts Invite on Saturday.
The Sycamore men managed 107 points but finished behind Northern Iowa, Southern Illinois and Missouri.
“We're really more accustomed to being in the thick of things,” said ISU men's head coach John McNichols. “I just felt that even during the meet we would have one guy place in an event and then Southern or Northern would add two. They have good teams, and we just didn't have the volume we needed to do well in the meet. We had some good performances in the meet that we can take away, but I can't say we necessarily accomplished what we came over here to do.”
The Sycamore women, meanwhile, scored 97 points and finished behind the Tigers, Salukis and Panthers as well.
“I think we made a little bit of progress this week,” said ISU women's head coach Angela Martin. “It was nice to finally have some good weather, which really made a difference in some kids' attitudes. We've been pushing through some tough things, but we're making a little bit of progress. Definitely disappointed in the score, thought we could jump up there and take top-three for sure. But, we'll see. We've got a couple more weeks to go and next week it will be good to be home.”
The Sycamore women came away with the most event wins for ISU on Saturday, winning three events in the field. Chief among them was junior high jumper LeVisa Evans, who put forth a career day in her signature event. Evans won the event on a career-best height of 1.73m (5-08.00), which pushes her onto the all-time top-10 list at Indiana State, tying her for eighth all-time. Evans is also in better position to qualify for the NCAA East Regional meet, as she is now tied for 27th on the East performance list.
ISU's female throwers also came through big on Day Two with wins in the discus and javelin. Senior Katelyn Rutz had a strong day with her victory in the discus, throwing a season-best 49.02m (160-10) in victory – which ranks her 33rd in the East Region right now.
Fellow senior Whitney Walker had herself a career day in the javelin, setting a new PR in the event at 42.19m (138-05) en route to victory. Her toss improves on her slot in third place all-time at Indiana State.
Walker and Rutz also had strong finishes in the shot put. Walker finished fifth overall in a stacked field, throwing a season-best 15.20m (49-10.50), which puts her 27th in the East Region right now. Rutz finished seventh at 14.76m (48-05.25).
The Sycamore men, meanwhile, maintained its excellence in the 110-meter hurdles. It was finals-only on Saturday, which failed to slow down senior All-American Adarius Washington and crew. Washington – just 15 minutes after running the leadoff leg of ISU's 4x100-meter relay that finished runner-up at 41.07 – won yet again, running 13.77 in the effort.
Junior and fellow Indianapolis native joined Washington in the under-14 second club, finishing runner-up at 13.96 seconds. Jacob Wright also scored high in fourth place at 14.65.
Senior pole vaulter Connor Curley was the top collegiate finisher in the pole vault, and in the process came away with the highest national and regional performance of the weekend for the Sycamores. Curley finished at a new outdoor PR height of 5.21m (17-01.00), which now gives him sole possession of second place all-time at Indiana State. Curley's MVC-leading height now ranks tied for 24th nationally and 12th in the East Region – almost assuredly locking him into a qualifying slot for the regional meet.
Curley was also the third-place finisher in the javelin at 51.41m (168-08).
Senior Kimyanna Rudolph also got back to form with a strong outing in the pole vault. The Sycamore All-American finished third overall at a season-best height of 3.91m (12-10.00), which puts her second in the MVC this season and 39th in the East Region.
Junior jumper Devyn Mikell also had a high regional performance in the long jump. Mikell finished fourth overall at another season-best 7.50m (24-07.25) – the third-straight week he's improved – which currently ties him for 22nd in the East Region.
Fellow jumper Jamie Newsome also had a solid day in both the pit and on the track. The sophomore Lee's Summit, Mo., native finished third in the long jump at a season-best leap of 5.75m (18-10.50). She then followed that up with a truly impressive race in the 400-meter dash, running an incredible PR time of 54.91 seconds – the No. 2 time in the conference this season and the No. 10 time in Indiana State history.
The Sycamores return home for the Pacesetter Invite next weekend, which will feature familiar faces Southern Illinois, Saint Louis and DePaul. Indiana State will honor its senior class with a ceremony during the meet.
“We always run well at home so we're looking forward to coming back, but we still have a lot of development that needs to be done,” McNichols said. “There is a sense of urgency now. We have our home meet, then we go to Drake – which is a limited entry – then we have IU and then conference. Time is short, and it's going to finish up a lot quicker on everybody than they probably sense right now.”
Other Scorers:
Women's 100-Meter Hurdles:
5. Patrycja Dziekonska – 14.04 – SB
Men's 100-Meter Dash:
6. Tristan Parmley – 10.67 – PR
Men's 200-Meter Dash:
4. Jaynard Keys – 21.64 – SB, Team-best
Men's 400 Meter Dash:
3. Tyrell Dowdell – 48.37
Men's Pole Vault:
7. Riley Smith – 4.76m (15-07.25)
Men's High Jump:
3. DeSean Prentice – 2.08m (6-09.75) – SB
5. Jamie Murtagh – 2.03m (6-08.00)
Women's High Jump:
4. Ioanna Koltsidou – 1.63m (5-04.25)
Men's Long Jump:
6. Scott Schreiber – 7.20m (23-07.50)
Women's Long Jump:
6. Darian Mehne – 5.63m (18-05.75)
Men's Shot Put:
4. Jamar Brown – 16.75m (54-11.50)
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track and Field team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.
