Saturday, April 7, 2007 12:15 AM CDT
EIU men second, women third at Big Blue
Ellis triumphant in decathlon
by the jg/t-c
sports@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON – Five points are all that separates the top schools on both the men’s and women’s side as day one of the Eastern Illinois Big Blue Track and Field Classic came to a close.
Host EIU sits in second place on the men’s side five points behind leader Indiana State. The EIU women are also five points out of first place, but find themselves sitting in third place behind Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Indiana State.
Competition is conclude today as teams are facing both top competition and severe weather as a cold front has blanketed the Midwest the last two days.
On the men’s side EIU picked up two individual titles as Austin Hogue won the javelin with a throw of 60.24 meters (197-8 feet) to win the event by more than 50 feet over the second place competitor from Marian College. Kirkland Thornton also won the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 54.77 as EIU took home four of the top five spots in the event. Pat Tortorici was second followed by Kris Gehrke in fourth and Brian York in fifth.
EIU men’s 4x800 meter relay team also took home top honors with a time of 7:57.25, a six second win over second place Indiana State. Other top performances from EIU men’s competitors on Friday were Brad Butler with a fourth place finish in the 5,000 meter run.
Nick Wichert of UW Milwaukee had the best individual performance of the day hitting an NCAA Regional Qualifying mark in the men’s hammer. Wichert had a toss of 59.17 meters (194-1 feet).
On the women’s side, the Panthers took home top honors in the 4x800 meter relay with a time of 9:29.95. EIU easily won over Indiana State an UW Milwaukee as those two schools battled down the back stretch for second and third place.
Freshman Caitlin Finnegan and senior Jill Blondell had the best individual finishes for the Panther women. Finnegan was second in the 400 meter hurdles with a mark of 1:05.92. Blondell was second in the 3,000 meter steeplechase at 11:19.7. Fellow freshman hurdler Chandra Golden also was a Top 5 finisher in the 400 meter hurdles crossing in fourth at 1:06.76.
Other top performances for the EIU women came from Nicole Marczewski with a third place finish in the long jump, Rachel Galligan with a fourth place finish in the javelin, Katie O’Brien with a fourth place finish in the 10,000 meter run and Mallory Fellers with a fifth place showing in the women’s 5,000 meter run.
Ellis takes top honors
CHARLESTON - Eastern Illinois senior Kyle Ellis climbed from fifth place to take top honors at the 2007 Big Blue Classic men’s decathlon held on Thursday and Friday at O’Brien Stadium.
Ellis excelled on Friday, scoring 849 points in the pole vault, his primary event during the indoor and outdoor season. The women’s heptathlon also concluded on Friday afternoon with Erica Moore of Indiana State taking top honors. EIU did not have an entry in the women’s heptathlon. EIU continues to hold the Big Blue Classic with individual events and relays slated for today.
Ellis ended Thursday’s opening round with 2,872 points as Brian Pinta of Western Illinois was the Day 1 leader. Ellis scored 602 points in the 110-meter hurdles to open competition on Friday morning. He then scored well in the discus and javelin with his biggest point total coming in the pole vault with a vault of 15-9. He rounded out the 10-event competition with 267 points in the 1,500 meter run.
Ellis easily won the event scoring a total of 5,842 points. Matt Moeller of Wisconsin Lutheran placed second after starting the day in fourth place. Brent Rehkemper of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville was third with Tony Odele of Western Illinois fourth.
First-day leader Brian Pinta of WIU dropped to fifth with low scores in the discus, pole vault and javelin. EIU’s Luke Craven, Evan Danner and Mike Embry rounded out the field. Embry was third after the first day of competition but could only compete in one event on Friday due to academic conflicts. He finished with 3,659 points.
In the heptathlon, Erica Moore of Indiana State continued her strong performance from Day 1, finishing in the top three in all three Friday events. She scored her biggest point total with a first-place finish in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:20.31. Moore easily won the multi-event with 4,774 points. Heather Wetzel, an at-large entry, finished in second with 4,446 points. Day 1 leader Lenae Stovall of Ball State dropped to third place with 4,371 points, edging Frannie Epps of Illinois State, who climbed one place to fourth.
Men’s results
100 – 1. Mike Embry (EIU) 11.56; 6. Kyle Ellis (EIU) 11.77; 7. Luke Craven (EIU) 12.08
100/110 hurdles: 1. Tony Odele (WIU) 15.70; 2. Embry 16.37; 5. Ellis 17.22; 7. Craven 17.65
400 – 1. Brian Pinta (WIU) 52.78; 4. Ellis 55.68; 7. Embry 56.96; 8. Craven 58.08
1,500 – 1. Pinta (WIU) 4:44.27; 4. Craven 5:23.94; 6. Ellis 5:59.24
High jump – 1. Pinta (WIU) 6-0 ¾; 2. Craven 5-10 ½; 5. (tie) Embry and Ellis 5-5 ¾
Long jump – 1. Embry 21-9; 3. Craven 19-10 ¼; 8. Ellis 17-11 3/4
Shot put – 1. Odele (WIU) 39-10 3/4; 2. Ellis 39-4 ½; 6. Embry 31-3 ¾; 7. Craven 30-3 ½
Discus – 1. Odele (WIU) 136-7; 2. Ellis 119-7; 4. Craven 96-10
Pole vault – 1. Ellis 15-9; 3. Craven 11-5 ¾
Javelin – 1. Ellis 179-6; 3. Craven 143-1
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