KEVIN JENISON
GoSycamores.com
DES MOINES, IOWA – The Sycamore men took a commanding lead midway through the final day of competition but it was not until the conclusion of the women's 4x400 meter relay that the Indiana State track & field squads realized that they will be bringing home two championships from the 2013 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Twenty years has passed since the last time Indiana State won both the men's and the women's MVC Outdoor titles. The Sycamores won both championships in 1993 when they were held in Terre Haute as the women defeated Illinois State 138-106 and the men topped Northern Iowa 139-122. Northern Iowa was the last Valley school to accomplish winning both titles in 2008.
The Sycamore men claimed their third straight title by scoring 198.50 points with Wichita State second (168.50), Southern Illinois third (161), Northern Iowa fourth (113), Drake fifth (85), Illinois State sixth (71), and Bradley seventh (11). It is the ninth outdoor title for the Sycamore men as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
“This team has a lot of depth and they are a very resilient group of guys,” John McNichols, Indiana State men's track & field coach, said. “They did not let a couple of setbacks early in the day stop them from achieving their goal of winning this championship. Wichita State and Southern Illinois are two very good programs and they did well during the first two days of the championship. But we qualified well and scored a lot of points in those finals.”
McNichols received his 10th Missouri Valley Conference Coach of the Year award following the completion of competition Sunday.
For the Indiana State women, the ending was much more dramatic. Heading into the 4x400 meter relay, the final event of the championships, Indiana State trailed two-time defending champion Wichita State 161-156.5.
“There are three seniors on that relay team and they knew what they had to do for us to win the championship and they accomplished their part in record fashion,” Angela Martin, Indiana State women's track & field coach said.
Martin, who received her first MVC Coach of the Year award after the meet, knew that the Sycamores had to win the relay and the Shockers finish fourth or worse.
Shelby Higginbottom, the only non-senior on the relay team, got the race off to a good start and by the time Stacia Weatherford finished her leg Indiana State had a big lead. Leeann Michl and Macey Black maintained the advantage as the relay finished in an Indiana State and MVC Championship record time of 3:38.76. The previous record was held by Michl, Weatherford, Lauren Martin, and Erica Moore who ran 3:38.94 to win the 2010 MVC 4x400 meter relay title.
The 10 points for winning lifted Indiana State to 166.50 points while Wichita State, who finished fifth in the 4x400 relay, finished with a 165 total. The one and a half point victory is the closest finish on the women's side since Indiana State edged Illinois State 114-111.75 in the 1991 Championship which was held in Springfield, Mo. The championship is the first for the Sycamore women since 1999 and their seventh as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
“This was just an amazing day,” Martin said. “The team really pulled together and knew that every point would count. There is great competition in the Missouri Valley and we had great performances from everyone. The women really wanted to win today.”
Illinois State finished third (136 points) with Southern Illinois fourth (119), Missouri State fifth (81), Northern Iowa sixth (76.50), Drake seventh (41), and Bradley eighth (23).
Maurice Lyke was named the Most Outstanding Male Athlete at the 2013 MVC Championships as he scored 26 points during his competition. Greggmar Swift was named the Most Outstanding Men's Track Athlete while Felisha Johnson was named the Most Outstanding Women's Field Athlete.
Seven individual champions and two relay champions highlight the final day of competition for the Sycamores.
The Indiana State women's 4x100 meter relay of Kaisha Martin, Black, Demetra Camble, and Katie Wise claimed the first MVC Championship of the day as they won the event with the third fastest time in Indiana State history of 45.16 seconds. It was the first Sycamore win in the women's 4x100 since 1994. Missouri State was second in 45.40 with Southern Illinois third in 46.25.
Felisha Johnson captured her second MVC title of the 2013 championships with a distance of 174'-10” (53.28m) in the women's discus. Mariah Garcia of Wichita State was second at 174'-9” (53.27m) and Illinois State's Brittany Smith third at 171'-2” (52.17m). It was Indiana State's first win in the discus since Beth Hilton in 2002. Sycamore freshman Whitney Walker was 11th with a throw of 135'-0” (41.14m).
Greggmar Swift captured his second straight MVC title in the men's 110 meter hurdles as he ran a season best 13.52 seconds. That mark was just shy of the MVC Championship record of 13.47 set by former Sycamore hurdler Aubrey Herring in 2001. Maurice Lyke was second for Indiana State in 13.90 with Adarius Washington fifth in 13.35 and Duane Brown sixth in 14.43.
Wise earned her second MVC crown and first in an individual event as she won the 100 meters with her collegiate best of 11.41 seconds. The time is third best on the Sycamore all-time list. Camble was fourth in 11.71 with Kaisha Martin seventh in 12.02. Jeanne Middleton was the last Indiana State 100 meter champion in 2009.
Michl dominated from the start in the women's 800 meters as she ran to victory in 2:08.73. Michl was second a year ago with Illinois State's Kristen Zillmer a distance second this year in 1:11.15. Danelle Leaf was the last MVC 800 meter champion for Indiana State as she won the title in 1998.
Weatherford moved to 13th in the national rankings as she ran 57.62 seconds to win the MVC crown in the women's 400 meter hurdles. The time ranks second on the Sycamore all-time list. The last Sycamore to win the event was Erica Moore who won three straight (2008-2010).
Jonathan Jackson led a sweep of the top three places in the men's 400 meter hurdles for the Sycamores as he ran his collegiate best of 51.78 to win the event. Max Tuttle ran his collegiate best of 51.82 in finishing second while Arqeil Shaw also had a collegiate best of 52.78 in finishing third. Ray Skamay ran 53.39 to finish fifth. Jackson moved into fifth on the ISU all-time list, Tuttle sixth, and Shaw 11th. Jordan Paladin was the last ISU champion in the event (2006).
Keith Housley ran past teammate Justin Baxtron to win the men's 200 meter MVC crown with Housley finishing in 21.71 seconds and Baxtron, the defending champion in the event, ran 21.85.
Weatherford broke her own school record in the women's 100 meter hurdles but still finished second in the finals with a time of 13.63 seconds. Sarah Yeager of Drake won in 13.48 with Bulldog teammate Mariah Smith third in 13.64. Weatherford had set the previous school record a year ago when she placed second in the event (13.68) at the 2012 MVC Championships.
Dustin Betz ran to a second place finish in the men's 1500 meters with a time of 3:50.82 while Corey Hahn finished eighth in 3:54.22. Wichita State's Tomas Cotter was able to edge Betz in the final 100 meters to take the win in 3:50.02.
Indiana State finished second, third and fourth in the men's 100 meters with Housley taking second with his collegiate best time of 10.65 and Shaun Smith (10.662) edging Baxtron (10.670) for third. Northern Iowa's Derek Kramer won in 10.54.
John Mascari finished second in the men's 5,000 meters with a time of 14:34.08 with Taylor Head sixth in 14:48.03 and Tristan Selby 19th in 15:43.71. Drake's Brogan Austin was the race winner in 14:28.53.
The Sycamore men's 4x400 meter relay team of Arqeil Shaw, Kevin Piraino, Tuttle, and Jackson finished third in a season best time of 3:11.46. Drake won the event in 3:10.47 with Northern Iowa second in 3:10.84.
Wise came back to finish fifth in the 200 meters despite running her collegiate best of 23.92 which ranks fifth on ISU's all-time list. Camble was sixth with a collegiate best of 24.09 which ranks sixth on the Sycamore all-time list. Shavonne Husbands of Missouri State won in 23.56.
Kalli Dalton, coming back after a fifth place finish in the women's 3,000 meter steeplechase despite a fall during the race, finished 14th in the women's 1500 meters with her collegiate best time of 4:40.92.
Black ran the sixth fastest 400 meters in Indiana State history as she placed fifth in the finals at the MVC Championships with a time of 54.54 seconds. Illinois State's Sade Sealy won her fourth straight MVC Outdoor title in record fashion breaking the MVC Championship and MVC All-Time record with a finish of 52.01 seconds.
Piraino finished seventh in the men's 400 meter final with a time of 48.43. Nikolai Gall of Southern Illinois won in 47.59.
Lyke posted his collegiate best distance of 48'-6¾” (14.80m) to place second in the men's triple jump with Robert Webb going 45'-7” (13.89m) for sixth. Douglas Palacious of Southern Illinois won the title with a jump of 50'-8¼” (15.45m).
Carmelia Stewart finished fourth and Shalesa Smith fifth in the women's triple jump with Stewart leaping her collegiate best of 40'-11” (12.47m) and Smith going 40'-9½” (12.43m). Kimsue Grant of Missouri State won the title at 41'-11½” (12.79m).
Drew LaMaster finished fourth and Wes Schenck fifth in the men's pole vault as each cleared 15'-5½” (4.71m) during the competition. Connor Curley tied for eighth by clearing 14'-11½” (4.56m). Daniel Gooris of Northern Iowa won the event by clearing 16'-7¼” (5.06m).
Chris Fields was the top Sycamore in the men's discus as he placed 14 th with a distance of 145'-11” (44.47m). Brandon Pounds was 15th at 145'-2” (44.27m), Justin Applegate 20th at 135'-10” (41.41m), and Derek Bunch 22nd at 129'-5” (39.45m)
