TERRE HAUTE —
The Pacesetter Quadrangular was looking like a very tightly contested affair at the top between Indiana State and Southern Illinois in men’s and women’s track and field after the first day.
If you recall, just a combined one point separated the two Missouri Valley Conference rivals through five events on Friday.
But on a day where the competitors were forced to run, leap, jump and throw through persistent raindrops, both ISU teams pulled away to victories as the meet concluded at Marks Field on Saturday.
The ISU men outpointed SIU by 50 points (237.50 to 187.50), while the ISU women topped SIU by a winning margin of 25 points (229.50 to 204.50). Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Butler also competed.
“About noon we thought we would have to call it,” ISU men’s coach John McNichols admitted. “We moved the pole vault inside, which is allowed by rule. But to have our qualifying marks from Friday’s five events count, we needed to run 10 events.
“Soon after, the weather cleared a bit. So we got everyone on the track at 12:37 [p.m.] to warm up and at one o’clock, we went as fast as we could. Needed four more events, got all of them in. Sure glad we did.”
The highlight of the meet had to be the men’s and women’s 800-meter runs. Fittingly, because the Marks Field record was set by legendary runner Jim Ryun, way back in 1966.
Ryun’s record didn’t fall, but meet records fell for both the men and women, while an ISU school record was nearly eclipsed.
For the women, ISU junior Leeann Michl easily won with a time of 2:08.05, a winning margin of nearly five seconds. Michl broke the meet record of Erica Moore (2:09.21 in 2010), and came within exactly two seconds of breaking the school mark set by Angie Bruecker (2:06.05 in 2000).
Bruecker, now ISU women’s coach Angie Martin, literally had a front row seat at the finish line while managing the scorekeeping for the meet.
“Leeann went out after it,” Martin laughed. “I keep waiting and waiting and waiting … my record’s going down and I can’t wait for her to do it. The way she went off today, I thought [the record] was going.
“I think [Michl] just needs someone to run with her to help her along. It’s hard to run all by yourself all the time. She does a great job.”
“It was kind of unexpected,” Michl said. “We warmed up late with the rain and everything. We weren’t prepared to run that soon, we thought the meet would be running farther behind. I don’t know, I just went out and ran … I was feeling it. I just kept doing it.”
Asked about shattering Moore’s meet record, she smiled, “Never thought that would happen. Erica is amazing. I don’t know, she’s running 1:59’s right now … 2:08’s good for me.”
On the men’s side, Butler’s Tom Curr and ISU’s Jeremiah Vaughan finished 1-2, both besting the meet record of 1:51.35 set by ISU’s Jason Briggs in 2003. Curr won with a time of 1:50.57, Vaughan right behind at 1:50.89.
Back to the women, Stacia Weatherford set a meet record by winning the 400 hurdles (59.40 seconds). Weatherford was also a close second in the 110 hurdles, losing by a scant 1/100th of a second.
Overall, the ISU men won nine individual events and the women eight events.
Winners for the ISU men included Andrew Stull (200), Kevin Piraino (400), Craig Padgett (1,500), Greggmar Smith (110 hurdles), Ernest Rollins (triple jump), Brandon Pounds (hammer throw), Chris Fields (shot put) and Jordan Colanese (javelin). ISU’s men also won both the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.
Other ISU women’s winners were Kristy Twitchell (1,500), Jaquelle Spencer (100), Macey Black 9200), Richelle Kimble (pole vault) and Tara Perigo (javelin). ISU also claimed the 4x400 relay.
A “big” highlight was SIU’s Jeneva McCall sweeping the discus (177-0, meet record), hammer throw (222-6, meet and Marks Field record) and shot put (56-4.75, meet record). McCall is ranked No. 1 in the nation in all three events.
Both coaches were pleased their respective teams toppled Southern Illinois.
“We thought it was going to be a close meet, but to beat a conference rival is a big deal,” Martin noted. “The women’s team has struggled a bit this year, kind of been up and down at moments. But this is a bright spot. Hopefully, that carries over to our conference meet in a couple weeks.
“We have high goals, expectations are high. But you still have to go in there and get the job done. This was a nice step.”
Indiana State will compete at Indiana University next weekend in the Polytan Invitational.
Pacesetter Quadrangular results
MEN
Team results — Indiana State 237.50, Southern Illinois 204.50, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 136, Butler 76.
100 — Matt Ferry (WM) 11.04; Devin Price (ISU) 11-04; Washington Farrington (WM) 11.08.
200 — Andrew Stull (ISU) 21.76; Justin Baxtron (ISU) 21.88; Ryan Sidwell (SIU) 22.20.
400 — Kevin Piriano ISU) 48.54; Sidwell (SIU) 48.86; Ryan Hendrickson (ISU) 49.48.
800 — Tom Curr (But) 1:50.57; Jeremiah Vaugan (ISU) 1:50.89; Zach Dahleen (SIU) 1:51.52.
1,500 — Craig Padgett (ISU) 3:54.41; Drew Gambill (ISU) 3:55.52; Albaro Escalera (ISU) 3:56.37.
110H — Greggmar Swift (ISU) 14.10; Durell Busby (WM) 14.32; Duane Brown (ISU) 14.66.
400H — Dexter Schleis (WM) 52.67; Max Tuttle (ISU) 53.65; Alex Delveauz (WM) 53.71.
4x100 relay — Indiana State 40.91; Wisconsin-Milwaukee 41.68; Southern Illinois 41.71.
4x400 relay — Indiana State “A” 3:18.33; Southern Illinois 3:24.37; Indiana State “B” 3:25.68.
HJ — Nick Hughes (WM) 6-10.75; Robert Webb (ISU) 6-8.75; Kendrick Branch (SIU) 6-4.75.
PV — Cody Doerflein (SIU) 16-5.25; Garrett Vetesnik (WM) 16-1.25; Ryan Sidwell (SIU) 16-1.25.
TJ — Ernest Rollins (ISU) 49-3.75; Douglas Palacious (SIU) 49-1.50; Maxim Bakana (SIU) 48-10.75.
D — Curtis Wideman (SIU) 164-6; Brandon Pounds (ISU) 164-6; Bradley Sauer (SIU) 156-0.
J — Jordan Colanese (ISU) 173-5; Dean Jordan (SIU) 170-4; Kevin Selby (ISU) 150-0.
Friday
5,000 — Dustin Betz (ISU) 14:45.54, Jake Reilly (WM) 14:49.85, Andrew Lepowski (ISU) 14:59.78.
3,000 steeplechase — Craig Jordan (But) 8:58.84, Lucas Cherry (SIU) 9:08.47, Kevin Oblinger (But) 9:19.54.
LJ — Palacious (SIU) 22-9, 3. Eric Reeves (SIU) 22-5, 3. Rollins (ISU) 21-11.50.
SP — Chris Fields (ISU) 50-11.50, Brian Cooper (SIU) 49-1, Brad Foote (SIU) 46-3.50.
HT —Pounds (ISU) 207-9, Collin Otto (SIU) 191-2, Sauer (SIU) 188-7.
WOMEN
Team results — Indiana State 229.50, Southern Illinois 204.50, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 107, Butler 76.
100 — Jaquelle Spencer (ISU) 12.29; Amiris Warren (SIU) 12.34; Hirupama Sunderraj (SIU) 12.65.
200 — Macey Black (ISU) 25.48; Tess Shubert (SIU) 25.63; Lauren Cheadle (SIU) 26.20.
400 — Shubert (SIU) 55.45; Lauren Grant (WM) 56.90; Black (ISU) 57.31.
800 — Leeann Michl (ISU) 2:08.05; Kirsty Legg (But) 2:12.99; Mobola Rotibi (SIU) 2:14.00.
1,500 — Kristy Twitchell (ISU) 4:36.45; Kacie Klem (ISU) 4:37.71; Shelbi Burnett (But) 4:40.79.
100H — Malaikah Love (SIU) 14.21; Stacia Weatherford (ISU) 14.22; Chiamaka Okonkwo (WM) 14.59.
400H — Weatherford (ISU) 59.40; Calanetta Burrows (WM) 1:01.24; Evelyn Scott (SIU) 1:05.03.
4x100 relay — Southern Illinois 46.87; Indiana State 47.53; Wisconson-Milwaukee 48.52.
4x400 relay — Indiana State “A” 3:52.91; Southern Illinois 3:56.99, Indiana State “B” 4:23.98.
HJ — Kenya Culmer (SIU) 5-8.75; Laura Hamel (WM) 5-7; Nikole Snearley (ISU) 5-5.
PV — Richelle Kimble (ISU) 12-10; Courtney Fisher (WM) 11-4.25; Caselyn Harding (SIU) 11-4.25.
TJ — Love (SIU) 40-9; Culmer (SIU) 39-8.75; Samia Taylor (WM) 39-5.75.
D — Jeneva McCall (SIU) 177-0; Mary Thiesen (ISU) 162-2; Ashley Gaston (SIU) 155-8.
J — Tara Perigo (ISU) 125-2; Mallory Dreyer (SIU) 120-4; Rachael Johnson (ISU) 104-5.
Friday
5,000 — Becky Howarth (But) 17:23.72, Lacey Gibson (SIU) 17:39.28, Jessica Zangmeister (ISU) 17:39.98, 4. Valerie Burns (ISU) 17:41.30.
3,000 steeplechase — Shelbi Burnett (But) 10:47.91, Hanna Mercer (ISU) 11:02.41, Andrea Prusz (ISU) 11:06.19.
LJ — Malaikah Love (SIU) 19-5.50, Kelly Steffen (ISU) 18-10, Samia Taylor (WM) 18-9.75.
SP — McCall (SIU) 56-4.75, Felisha Johnson (ISU) 51-11.25, Mary Thiesen (ISU) 49-10.50.
HT — McCall (SIU) 222-6, Johnson (ISU) 195-4, Kim Fortney (SIU) 191-8.




