TERRE HAUTE — The Indiana State women’s track team heads into this weekend’s Missouri Valley Conference championships looking for the team’s first indoor league title since 2001.
Coach John Gartland also guided the women’s squad to indoor championships from 1992-94 in addition to his six outdoor crowns.
Gartland’s team was picked second to Northern Iowa in the pre-meet coaches poll. The men’s team, coached by John McNichols, was picked third out of six squads. Competition begins Saturday at Cedar Falls, Iowa.
A pair of sophomores, Sullivan native Erica Moore and Terre Haute North graduate Kylie Hutson, have led the Sycamore women into the top 50 in national rankings, which are based on a projected finish at the NCAA championships.
Both Moore (pentathlon) and Hutson (pole vault) have reached provisional qualifying marks in their events.
Hutson’s pole vault mark of 4.16 meters is seventh best in the nation, according to www.trackshark.com.
Moore’s pentathlon score of 3,993 set on Feb. 14 at Iowa State currently ranks as the eighth best mark in the nation.
“I’m glad I’ll be able to give Kylie some company this year at nationals,” Moore said.
Moore said this season has been much more enjoyable for more reasons than her upcoming trip to NCAAs on March 14-15 at Fayetteville, Ark.
The chemistry and geology major is excited that the Sycamores have a much-improved chance at a conference title. ISU had a rare finish in the bottom half of the league last year.
“The team is a lot more focused. Workouts have been faster. Everyone is working so much harder,” Moore said. “It’s showing in our performances. We’re exciting about practicing and competing. I have best teammates, coaches and parents in the world.”
Terre Haute North grad Kayla Alexander is seeded second in the 5,000 meters with her time of 17:48.26, and Lauren Martin is the top seed in the triple jump.
“Our team is so excited. I see a complete 180 from last year, just the morale on our team. Everyone is so pumped up about it.”
Moore, who won the MVC pentathlon title as a freshman, will not be competing in the event this weekend. Instead, she’ll run the 60-meter hurdles, long jump, 400 and 1,600-meter relay.
The hurdles and long jump are part of her usual pentathlon regimen, along with the 800 meters, shotput and high jump. But Moore’s best this winter of 54.68 seconds in the 400 is the top mark in the Valley.
“The coaches feel like I can get more points and be more valuable in the individual events because I’ll be more rested,” Moore said.
On the men’s side, Jeramie Gray, who also plays wide receiver for the ISU football team, ranks among the top 30 in the nation in the 60 dash. Gray and teammate Daryl Truitt own the top two marks in the MVC in that event with respective times of 6.74 and 6.88.
Scott Keeney is a title contender in both the 3,000 and 5,000 meters, and Sean Wright and Logan Edwards should contend in the 400.
• ISU baseball faces tough task — Coach Lindsay Meggs takes the Sycamores to face No. 2 Ole Miss for a three-game series beginning today.
The Rebels moved from No. 4 to No. 2 in the latest poll by Baseball America.
All-American pitcher Lance Lynn, a 6-foot-5, 250-pound right-hander, started the season with 12 strikeouts in five innings of work in an 8-1 win against Minnesota. Lynn was named Pitcher of the Week by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
ISU is coming off a 1-2 trip to Tampa, Fla., against South Florida, a team picked third in the Big East.
ISU also plays Arizona — the No. 2 ranked team in the Collegiate Baseball News poll — later in the year. Meggs is excited about the travel opportunities for more reasons than the tough competition for his team.
“Everywhere we go is going to be interesting for us in the nonconference. South Florida, Ole Miss, Arizona, Missouri, all of those programs are top 25 programs because of the facilities they have and the money they put into their programs,” Meggs said. “It’s an example of where we want to be. At some point, we want to be able to match them, not only in wins and losses, but with the emphasis we put on baseball.”
Ole Miss also features two other pitchers, Cody Satterwhite and Nathan Baker, that approach 100 mph on the radar guns.
Watch this weekend’s action live at www.olemisssports.com.
• Wood could return — Standout Indiana State pitcher Darcy Wood could return to the circle this weekend, coach Brenda Coldren said Thursday.
Wood hasn’t pitched in ISU’s five games this season due to shoulder soreness she began suffering from two weeks ago, said Coldren, who reported that Wood’s shoulder is improving after giving the coach quite a scare.
Wood averaged 7.5 strikeouts per nine innings for ISU last season and ranked second in the MVC in Ks with 266.
“We might be able to use her this weekend, we might be able to use her for three or four innings,” Coldren said. “She’s doing pretty good now.”
Northview graduate Stephanie Jonson was forced into some time on the mound during last weekend’s tournament. The freshman allowed 11 hits and 10 runs in 31/3 innings.
“I’d like to have some time for a freshman pitcher to mature,” Coldren said. “With injuries and other people breaking team policies, she got thrown into the fire too early.”
The Sycamores are back in action this weekend in the Tennesee-Martin tournament.
Craig Pearson can be reached by e-mail at
craig.pearson@tribstar.com or by phone at (812) 231-4357.
Given to Fly
February 28, 2008
College notes: Valley talent leads ISU women’s track team in quest for MVC title
- Given to Fly
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GIVEN TO FLY: Come to expect new standards of excellence
Records are definitely meant to be broken; athletes today are faster and stronger than those in the past in many endeavors in athletics.
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GIVEN TO FLY: ISU women have solid recruiting class
The caliber of athletes that the Indiana State women’s basketball coaching staff is bringing in is on an upswing.
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GIVEN TO FLY: Major leaguers John, Dorsett meet up at tonight’s game
Terre Haute’s only two big leaguers of the last 50 years — Tommy John and Brian Dorsett — will catch up with one another today.
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FOOT NOTES: Valley natives perform well on national stage
Several Wabash Valley natives continue to shine on the national track and field scene.
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'Til It's Over: Sycamores ‘in a good place,’ but searching for more in MVC
Can Teri Moren lift Indiana State, last year’s seventh-place team in the Missouri Valley Conference, to one of the league’s contenders in her first year on campus?
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'Til It's Over: Two sets of identical twins should keep North Central baseball a contender
The last high school baseball team standing in the Wabash Valley was the North Central, the Thunderbirds falling short 4-3 in the Class A Semistate on Saturday just one game shy of Victory Field.
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'Til It's Over: Jarvis, Anderson confident Olney, hard work leads to Division I dream
Olney, Ill., population 8,000-plus and known for its population of white squirrels, might not be the dream destination for high school basketball players in Indiana.
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'Til It's Over: Robinson 7-footer more focused in postseason; 6-foot Jones keeps producing
Robinson 7-footer Meyers Leonard is not going to be the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA some day, but his odds of reaching the league are pretty solid if his game continues to evolve as it has during high school.
- 'Til It's Over: ‘Stepping stone’ game points Sycamores in right direction Whether the win comes against a top-25 team or a conference pushover, ending a four-game losing streak is always a relief.
- 'Til It's Over: Indianapolis ISU recruit rolling along in senior season As Indiana State recruit Anna Munn approached Christmas with the Decatur Central basketball team, the senior guard didn’t seem to need much of a wishlist.
- 'Til It's Over: Magic’s still there for '79 Sycamores For the former Indiana State players who visited the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in late November, the weekend was a chance to relive memories with teammates and see Larry Bird’s career with the Sycamores celebrated again.
- CRAIG PEARSON: North has strong history in cross country state finals Vigo County is home to just four IHSAA state championships in team sports. Most recently, Terre Haute South won girls titles in basketball (2002) and tennis (2001).
- 'Till It's Over: It’s been rough year but no need to break up Cubs' core Chicago Cubs general manager Jim Hendry is only in the first year of a three-year contract, and aren’t back-to-back division championships enough to keep him around despite this year’s season filled with bad luck?
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'Til It's Over: Hansbrough, Hibbert give Pacers glimpse of future
You might have heard of the Indiana Pacers’ 2009 first-round draft pick. He was on the television once in a while during his four-year career at North Carolina.
- 'Til It's Over: Bertoli, Moore put on show in abundance of events “Anthony and Erica” may not have the marketing capability of “Dan and Dave,” but neither of Indiana State’s outstanding multi-event participants had let-down performances this weekend in the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
- ‘Walking wounded’: ISU seniors return to provide spark All three ISU seniors will graduate in May, and all three will be in uniform today as Indiana State battles Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals.
- Given to Fly: Northview standout runner Thacker coming to ISU Doc Brown told an old-timer in a saloon in “Back to the Future III” that despite having automobiles in the future people run for recreation.
- Given to Fly: Schilli’s Rodman-like performance aids ISU With Indiana State’s women’s basketball team ranking eighth in the Missouri Valley Conference in field-goal percentage (36.5), the Sycamores need as many shot attempts as possible to maintain their standing on top of the league.
- Given to Fly: A classic in every sense of the word What tournament director and co-founder Gary Fears had in mind when creating the tournament came to fruition Tuesday. Marshall, with an enrollment of 438 students, became the smallest school to win the Pizza Hut Wabash Valley Classic in the ninth season of the tourney.
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Given to Fly: ISU women should build confidence off strong outing
Indiana State did not pull off the monumental upset Saturday against No. 23 Kansas State, but the Wildcats are —aside from Connecticut in 2005 — the best team the Sycamores have played in the Jim Wiedie era.
- Given to Fly: ISU women's hoops team slides onto commercial radio Coach Jim Wiedie expects the Indiana State women’s basketball team to have a bit of a retro feel this season, meaning the Sycamores have the potential to get back to creating havoc with their full-court press.
- Given to Fly: ISU vets hope to prove pundits wrong Indiana State’s only two seniors were surprised to see they were picked ahead of just three Missouri Valley Conference women’s basketball teams Tuesday morning.
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Footnotes: In first marathon, former Sycamore comes out a winner
Indiana State graduate Dani Prince made her debut in the event with a victory in the Columbus Marathon on Sunday.
Prince’s goal was a time under 2 hours and 50 minutes, and she ran a 2:48.56. -
Given To Fly: ISU volleyball turning things around
It was an extremely busy weekend for Indiana State athletics this weekend.
- Footnotes: Here’s hoping perfect weather is still around for Nationals in November The weather made for a perfect fall afternoon Saturday at LaVern Gibson Championship Course. For what it’s worth, the Farmer’s Almanac calls for more sunny conditions from Nov. 20-24, with the NCAA Championships falling on the 24th this year.
- Terre Haute natives cherish memories of ‘House that Ruth Built’ Yankee Stadium was packed as usual on Easter Sunday in 1979. George Steinbrenner’s Yankees were one loss away from being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers to start the season. That was no way for the two-time defending World Series champions to perform, so the boss had a conversation with his new veteran left-handed starting pitcher prior to the game.
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Footnotes: Oregon men and women have strangehold on preseason NCAA cross countryrankings
The Oregon men and women were almost both unanimous picks as the No. 1 teams in the nation in the preseason cross country national rankings released recently.
- Given to Fly: Bronze medalist has strong ISU ties One of the remarkable American medalists of this 2008 Olympics thus far also provided one of the most sparkling stories in the brief history of the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course here in Terre Haute.
- Former ISU QB gets back to Amarillo This week, Indiana State signed its most highly-touted football prospect in years, and former quarterback Julian Reese is ripping it up for the Amarillo Dusters of Arena2.
- Indiana State track sending strong group to NCAA regional Three sophomore women and three senior men lead a large Indiana State contingent of track and field athletes into the NCAA Mideast Regional this weekend at Fayetteville, Ark.
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