May 1, 2009

Track & Field Notes: SUU Invitational

COMING UP
The Bengals head to Cedar City, Utah, to compete in the Southern Utah Invitational. Besides host Southern Utah, the Bengals will compete against Utah, Utah Valley and UNLV.

REVIEW
ISU athletes competed in the Robison Invitational, hosted by BYU on April 22-25. Levi Keller took over the top spot in the Big Sky rankings in the pole vault in addition to posting an NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the decathlon. Five athletes added Big Sky Conference qualifying marks (Sergio Jones, Kylee Gleason, Sydney Wendt, Carrie Connett and Ashley Turner) and four others matched or improved their marks (Turner, Eric Strand, Jed Sion and Sydney Wendt).

THIS WEEK
The Bengals will compete in the SUU Invitational on Saturday in Cedar City, Utah. This is the last scheduled regular-season event before the Big Sky Outdoor Championships on May 13-16 in Missoula, Mont. Several athletes will likely attend a "last chance" meet in the state of Utah over the weekend of May 8-9.

Levi Keller NAMED BIG SKY MEN'S FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Senior Levi Keller was named the Big Sky Conference's Men's Field Athlete of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday.

Keller scored 6,967 points in the decathlon at the Robison Invitational on April 22-23 in Provo, Utah, making him the second Big Sky athlete to post an NCAA provisial qualifying mark in the event (teammate Nathan Capps is the other). Keller also cleared 16-08.75 (5.10 meters) in the pole vault part of the decathlon, giving him the Big Sky's top mark by two inches over teammate Sam Pierson.

Keller is the second ISU track and field athlete to earn Athlete of the Week honors in 2009, and the first during the outdoor campaign. Sydney Wendt was Women's Field Athlete of the Week on February 10, four days after posting NCAA provisional qualifying marks in the heptathlon and the high jump.

RESULTS
Ashley Turner had a solid weekend at the Robison Invitational, improving her Big Sky conference qualifying mark in the heptathlon and 110-meter hurdles, while adding a qualifying mark in the 400-meter hurdles. Fellow senior Carrie Connett also qualified for the Big Sky Conference meet in the 400-meter hurdles, while sophomore Kylee Gleason and senior Nicole Yurek qualified in the 400-meter dash. Sydney Wendt improved her qualifying mark in the 400-meter hurdles and came up .01 seconds short of a qualifying mark in the 100-meter hurdles.

Sergio Jones posted a Big Sky qualifying mark of 23-00.75 in the long jump, and Eric Strand (800-meters) and Jed Sion (discus throw) improved their Big Sky qualifying marks.