Published: May 16, 2008 11:43 pm            

ISU off to slow start at outdoor track championships

CARBONDALE, ILL. — Indiana State is off to slow starts at the 2008 State Farm MVC Outdoor Track and Field Championships after Friday’s events on the Lew Hartzog track inside McAndrew Stadium.

Wichita State leads the men’s standings with 35 points, one ahead of the host Salukis, while Indiana State is fifth with 11.

Southern Illinois and Northern Iowa lead the women’s standings with 36 and 33 points respectively, with the Sycamores currently having six points.

“There’s really no need to panic yet about the score,” said men’s coach John McNichols. “Wichita State and Southern Illinois were both very strong in the throwing events today, which allowed them to jump out to the lead.

“We accomplished what we wanted to in the 10,000 meters and are in good position in the decathlon. With more good weather like we had today, I expect the team to break out and get right back in the hunt.”

Anthony Bertoli currently leads Indiana State’s decathletes with 3,600 points and is in sixth place, while Steven Swinford has 3,337 and Brian Jackson 3,331.

“I think we are in good position to pick up some added points in the decathlon based on the starts today,” said McNichols. “Anthony had his best first day ever and he typically finishes very strong on the second day of competition in the decathlon. In previous competitions, Steven and Brian have also scored better on day two, which bodes well for us [today].”

In other men’s action, Lyle Nolcox placed sixth in the hammer throw with a distance of 183 feet and Joshua Williams placed ninth in the javelin throw with a heave of 170 feet, moving him up into the top 10 on the all-time list at ISU.

The highlight of the day came in the 10,000-meter run where the Sycamores had three men earn points. Eric Schulz made a late push in the race to finish in fourth place with a time of 30:28.75 and was followed by teammates Antonio McDaniel (31:24.92) and Jared Messmann (31:41.48) in seventh and eighth.

“We didn’t score all the points we needed to today in order to keep up with SIU and UNI,” said women’s coach John Gartland. “Despite the limited amount of points available today, I think we competed strong against some good competition and I look forward to seeing how the team responds.

“We will need to scramble to make up ground and get back up into the top three, but I think we can do thatwith the quality of talent we have competing [today].”

After four of seven events, Dana Sander — Indiana State’s lone entrant in heptathlon — is in fifth place with 2,704 points. Angel Canada scored a point with an eighth-place finish in the shot put with a toss of 165-7 while teammate Kelsey Hanley placed ninth with a toss of 161-4. In the javelin throw, Lisa Barrett was sixth with a throw of 130-5, and Kayla Alexander was seventh in the 10,000 meters in 37:40.50.

Action resumes at noon today.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.