SIUE indoor track runners place high at Redbird Open

Tony Ammann
Sports Editor

The SIUE men's and women's indoor track teams might want to stay indoors during the outdoor season too.

Both teams competed at the Redbird Open Saturday at Illinois State University in Normal. The Cougars had 16 top-five finishers that day from both teams combined.

Senior Chenoa Glenn was the only member of either squad to win an event. Glenn won the women's 400-meter dash with a time of 1-minute, .28 seconds, barely edging Illinois State's Jene Klostermann.

Head coach Darryl Frerker thinks Glenn's consistency is a result of her strong mental game.

"Over the last few years, she's been very dedicated to her training session of her season," Frerker said. "She came away with another excellent race."

Junior Tamekia Howard and freshman Jessica Conley also participated in the 400 meters. Howard finished fourth with a time of 1:01.39, and Conley was the 11th to cross the finish line with a time of 1:03.75.

Sophomore Desiree Barcomb may have had the best day overall for the Lady Cougars. Barcomb competed in five different events and was among the top ten in every one.

Although the indoor season does not include a heptathlon, Frerker thinks Barcomb will be the best candidate for that event when the outdoor season begins.

"We try to get her into several events so she can see what the heptathlon will be like outdoors," Frerker said. "She is overall very strong and that will indicate what we can expect in the heptathlon."

Barcomb finished fifth in the preliminary 60-meter dash and fourth in the final race with a time of :08.00. She finished third in the 200-meter dash, sixth in the high jump, 10th in the 60-meter high hurdles and sixth in the women's long jump as well.

Senior Lisa Ribes made a strong showing in the women's 3,000-meter run. Ribes finished third with a time of 10:48.13, a time Frerker said was just slightly off her personal record.

Junior Crystal Anderson set a school record in the pole vault event with a clearnace of 2.1 meters. This year marks the first time SIUE has included the pole vault during the indoor season.

Other top-five finishers for the Lady Cougars included senior Janece Friederich, sophomore Amanda Bozue and senior Mekelle Beck.

Friederich placed fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of :27.31. Bozue and Beck each placed fourth in the one-mile run and shot put events, respectively.

The men's team had 10 top-10 finishers, including three by sophomore Ryan Gold and two by sophomore Eli Potter.

Gold finished third in the 400-meter dash with a time of :51.54 and fifth in the long jump with a distance of 6.64 meters. Gold also finished seventh in the 200-meter dash, crossing the finish line in :22.97.

Potter finished second in the weight throw with a toss of 13.53 meters and fifth in the shot put with a toss of 13.25 meters.

Other top-10 finishers included sophomores George Murphy and Jason Olszowka, and juniors Joshua Benton and Marqus Hall.

Murphy finished fourth in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.1 meters, and Olszowka finished sixth in the one-mile run in 1:28.52. Benton joined three other athletes in the high jump for second place with a leap of 1.93 meters and Hall had a seventh-place finish in the triple jump with a 13.15 meter leap.

Shawn Brundies set a personal record in the men's 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:25.58.

SIUE's next meet will be Saturday at the Saluki Indoor Open in Carbondale.