CARBONDALE, Ill. -- Senior Mica Land ended her Missouri
Valley Conference career with two more titles on Day Three of the State
Farm Missouri Valley Conference Championships. Land won the 1500 meters
and 5000 meters on Sunday to add to Saturday night's 3000m steeplechase
victory at McAndrew Stadium in Carbondale, Ill.
Land was named the meet's Most Valuable Female Performer scoring 30 points for the Wichita State women's team.
In the team race,
the Shockers finished second on the men's side with 181.5 points, and
fourth on the women's side just 2.5 points behind third-place Illinois
State with 118 points. Northern Iowa swept the men's and women's titles to become the first team in Missouri Valley Conference history to win both men's and women's indoor and outdoor titles in the same year. The Shocker men have now finished in the top three in the MVC Outdoor Championships seven years in a row, starting with three straight team wins in 2002, 2003, and 2004.
Land was one of three Shockers to win
individual titles. Junior Beau Morris took the pole vault title in a
jump off with UNI's Phil Hansen. After both competitors missed at 17
feet, 4 1/2 inches, Morris was the next to clear to win the title.
On
the track, Jennifer Snyder collected two individual victories. After
defending her 100m-hurdle title with a run of 13.82, Snyder cruised to
a victory in the 400m hurdles with a career-best time of 59.79.
Next up for the Shockers is the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in Lincoln, Neb. The regional meet is set for May 30-31.
Click on the event name for live results.
Women's Standings (As of 21 events)
| Rank/Team | Score
|
1. Northern Iowa
| 172.5
|
2. Southern Illinois
| 168
|
3. Illinois State
| 120.5
|
4. Wichita State
| 118
|
5. Missouri State
| 108
|
6. Indiana State
| 94
|
7. Drake
| 26
|
8. Bradley
| 8
|
Men's Standings (As of 21 events)
| Rank/Team | Score
|
1. Northern Iowa
| 203
|
2. Wichita State
| 181.5 |
3. Southern Illinois
| 165
|
4. Indiana State
| 137.5
|
5. Illinois State
| 95
|
6. Drake
| 19
|
| 4x100m Relay M / W | The
Shocker men placed second in the sprint relay with the combination of
Denny Nedd, Justin Smith, Keith Blanding, and anchor leg Jared Foley.
WSU covered the distance in a 41.27, a season best. The women's team,
comprised of Tiesha Stewart, Cierra King, Jasmine Cato, and Jennifer
Snyder placed fifth in the race with a time of 47.40, matching their
season best.
|
Men's Pole Vault
| Beau
Morris won an exciting pole vault competition, which came down to a
jump off with UNI's Phil Hansen. Morris cleared 17-0 3/4, a new career
best, to beat Hansen after each had missed their initial attempts at
the height.
|
1500m
M / W
| Senior
Mica Land added her second individual title of the meet with a victory.
After winning the 3000m steeplechase last night, Land ran down
Bradley's Katie Nowak, who had opened up a lead of over 10 seconds
midway through the race. Land ran the fourth fastest time in WSU
history, finishing in 4:31.27. In the men's 1500m race, Girts Azis came
from three spots back around the final turn, but didn't have enough to
beat UNI's Dorian Ulrey. Azis placed second in the race.
|
Women's Triple Jump
| Erika
Kovesi had a solid day on the triple jump runway, leaping 40-3 1/4 to
place fourth in the event. Sophomore Karolina Mosa jumped a personal
best of 38-6 to place seventh.
|
Women's 100m Hurdles
| Senior
Jennifer Snyder continued her domination of the high hurdles in MVC
competition with her second straight 100m hurdle title, and
four-straight high hurdle title, counting the last two MVC indoor 60m
hurdle titles.
|
Men's 110m Hurdles
| Luther
Wilson, Chris Allen, and Cooper Hanning showed WSU's depth in the 110m
hurdles. Wilson led the way for the trio with a third-place finish,
while Allen placed sixth and Hanning placed eighth.
|
Men's 400m
| Justin
Cole ran his fastest time of the season to place fifth in a very deep
400m field. Cole's time of 48.09 was three-tenths of a second faster
than his preliminary time.
|
Women's Discus
| Junior
Kate Schaake broke her own school record in the discus, and finished
second in the meet with a toss of 163-1. Schaake's performance broke
her WSU record by nearly three feet, which she set earlier this season.
|
100m Dash M / W
| Justin
Smith blazed to a fifth-place finish in the 100m with a career best
time of 10.82. Also in the race, Denny Nedd finished seventh with a
time of 10.96. In the women's race, WSU's lone qualifier, Tiesha
Stewart, placed eighth to score a point for the women's team. Stewart
covered the distance in a time of 12.30.
|
Men's 800m
| Girts
Azis added his second all-valley performance of the day with a
second-place finish in the 800m. Azis outsprinted Ulrey, who had beat
him in the 1500m, but couldn't catch 2008 National Indoor Champion
Tyler Mulder. Azis finished with a time of 1:49.69, his first
sub-1:50.0 time of the season, to improve his regional qualifying mark.
He was just .37 behind Mulder.
|
400m Hurdles M / W
| Jennifer
Snyder once again proved why she is one of the best hurdlers in WSU
history with her second hurdle victory of the day, this time in the
400m hurdles. The Osawatomie, Kan., native ran a personal best by
nearly two seconds to win the race in a time of 59.79. Her time was
also the fourth fastest in WSU history. Also in the race, Sasha Manuel
(1:06.00) placed seventh and Courtney French (1:08.12) placed eighth.
In the men's race, Luther Wilson collected an all-Valley performance,
placing third with a career best time of 53.50.
|
Men's 200m
| In
the men's 200m, Justin Smith earned points for the Shockers in his
second event of the day. Smith sprinted to a sixth-place finish in the
200m with a time of 21.99.
|
Women's 5000m
| Mica
Land astounded the McAndrew Stadium crowd with her third individual
championship of the conference meet. Land came from behind with 400
meters to go and cruised past UNI's Tracy Hawley.
|
Men's Discus
| Bryan
Tapia placed in his fourth event of the meet, taking third in the men's
discus. Tapia's toss of 160-9 was just seven feet behind the winner.
DePaul Brewer also placed eighth in the event with a toss of 155-6.
|
Men's Triple Jump
| Josh Crawford led four top-eight finishers in the
men's triple jump with an all-Valley third-place finish. Crawford
jumped 49-7 1/4, a career best, while Tyler Simmons leaped 47-0 3/4 to
place fifth. Patric Jackson placed sixth with a leap of 46-11 1/2, and
Justin Taylor placed eighth at 46-6.
|
4x400m Relay M / W
| In
the women's long relay, Kiara Moore, Jennifer Snyder, Cierra King, and
Lauren Eck placed sixth as a team with a time of 3:52.18. The men's 4x400m relay team combined for a fourth place finish with a time of 3:17.32
|
Women's Pole Vault
| Brooke Demo led a strong showing in the women's pole vault with a second-place finish. Demo cleared 13-9 to break Jackie Brown's Shocker school record. With the performance, Demo also improved her regional qualifying mark. Hannah Marsh finished fourth in the event with a personal best of 11-7 3/4, and Angela Welch placed sixth with a vault of 11-1 3/4.
|
--Wichita State--
