Northern Iowa's men and Wichita State's women were crowned team champions at this year's State Farm MVC Outdoor Track and Field Championship.  The Panther women came in second in the meet while Indiana State's men were second as the championship concluded on the third day in Des Moines, Iowa.

State Farm/MVC Outdoor Track Championship - Day 3

MEN'S TEAM SCORING
1. Northern Iowa 229.50; 
2. Indiana State 193.50; 
3. Wichita State 163; 
4. Southern Illinois 95; 
5. Drake 72; 
6. Illinois State 56.
-This was Northern Iowa's fifth MVC outdoor team title (1995, 1998, 2000, 2005)

WOMEN'S TEAM SCORING
1. Wichita State 185; 
2. Northern Iowa 157.50; 
3. Indiana State 112; 
4. Missouri State 111; 
5. Southern Illinois 105; 
6. Illinois State 82; 
7. Drake 56.50; 
8. Bradley 6.
-This was Wichita State's fourth straight team title and fourth overall (2004, 2005 2006).

MEET RECORDS
Women's Shot Put - Rachel Jansen, Northern Iowa, 56-8.50 (old mark - 56-5, Amarachi Ukabam, Southern Illinois, 2006)

Men's Pole Vault - Andre Poljanec, Northern Iowa, 18-2.5 (old mark - 18-2, Jacob Pauli, Northern Iowa, 2000)

Decathlon - 7,838 points, Raven Cepeda, Northern Iowa (old mark - 7,574 Keith Stewart, West Texas State, 1984)

Women's Hammer Throw  - 219-3 Brittany Riley, Southern Illinois (old mark - 211-3 Brittany Riley, Southern Illinois, 2006)

Rachel Jansen, Northern Iowa
MVC MOST VALUABLE WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE (Determined by highest point earner)

Paladin Jordan, Indiana State
MVC MOST VALUABLE MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE
(Determined by highest point earner)

Steve Rainbolt, Wichita State
MVC  WOMEN'S TRACK AND FIELD COACH OF YEAR

Chris Bucknam, Northern Iowa
MVC MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD COACH OF YEAR

Genna Williams, Missouri State
MVC OUTSTANDING FEMALE TRACK ATHLETE

Terrance Reid, Northern Iowa; Cory Goos, Northern iowa
MVC OUTSTANDING MALE TRACK ATHLETE

Rachel Jansen, Northern Iowa
MVC OUTSTANDING FEMALE FIELD ATHLETE

Andre Poljanec, Northern Iowa
MVC OUTSTANDING MALE FIELD ATHLETE

State Farm/MVC Outdoor Track Championships - Day 2 Recap
The second day of the 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship at Drake University concluded with 10 more student-athletes winning individual titles.  Most notably, Raven Cepeda of UNI claimed his second-straight MVC decathlon title with a meet record total of 7,838 points.

Northern Iowa leads the both the men’s and women’s competition heading into the final day.  On the men’s side, the Panthers totaled 81.50 points, Wichita State is second with 75 and Indiana State is a close third with 63.50.  The UNI women top the team standings with 73.50 points, WSU is second with 57 points and Indiana State is third with 49.

Decathlon Recap:
110m hurdles:  Defending champion Raven Cepeda of Northern Iowa wasted no time in getting the event started as earned 920 points with a time of 14.43.  Anthony Bertoli (15.22) scored 823 points and Tyler Dodd of UNI and Chris Dickman of Wichita State both posted 774 points with a time of 15.64.

Discus:  Cepeda extended his lead with 719 points after his toss of 139-11.  Justin Taylor (116-08) and Wade Massey (115-02) of Wichita State earned 575 and 566 points, respectively.

Pole Vault:  Cepeda widened his overall advantage after he secured 957 points with a clearance of 16-10.75.  His teammate Mat Clark cleared 13-11.25 – good for 688 points, and Taylor tallied 659 points with a vault of 13-07.25.

Javelin:  Clark garnered the most points, 692, with a toss of 186-09.  Cepeda had a second-place toss of 167-09 (605 points) and Brian Jackson of Indiana State closed third (154-01 – 544 points).

1500m Run:  Clark ran an impressive time of 4:18.31 to capture the last event and 823 points.  Dickman was second (4:26.43 - 768) and Jackson third (4:27.73 - 760).

Cepeda claimed his second-straight MVC decathlon title with a meet record total of 7,838.  He bested the mark of 7,754 set by Keith Stewart of West Texas State in 1984.  He missed the all-time MVC record by 58 points.  The All-American became the fourth MVC student-athlete to win multiple titles.  Clark finished second overall with 7072 points and Taylor was third with 6,722 points.  

Heptathlon Recap:
Long Jump:  Erica Moore of Indiana State and UNI’s Dani Stipe both jumped the same distance of 18-05.25 and earned 735 points in the first event of the day.  Alyssa Fischer of UNI posted 680 points with a leap of 17-09.75.

Javelin:  Illinois State’s Frannie Epps grabbed the most points, 661, with her toss of 130-01.  Stipe (120-02) posted 603 points and Fischer (100-02) was third with 487 points.

800m Run:  Moore took the final event of the day with a time of 2:09.27 and posted 975 points.  Stipe (2:15.38 – 887 points) finished second and Emily Green (2:20.87 - 812) of Wichita State closed third.

Stipe captured the event with a total of 5,322 points.  She became the second UNI student-athlete to win the heptathlon – Melissa Nelson claimed the title in 2003.  Erica Moore was second (5,263) and Alyssa Fischer placed third (4,904).  Both Stipe and Moore achieved NCAA Regional qualifying marks.

Women’s Discus Throw:  Rachel Jansen of Northern Iowa took the event with a toss of 176-06, defending champion Brittany Riley of Southern Illinois placed second (166-04) and WSU’s Kate Schaake garnered third (159-09).  Jansen won her second MVC title – she took home the crown in 2004.

Men’s High Jump:  UNI’s Ehi Oamen and Alex Straughn of Illinois State, co-MVC leaders in the high jump, both cleared 6-10.75 but Oamen won the event following the fourth jump-off increment of 6-10.  A trio of jumpers’ topped 6-08.75 by Josh Bradley of UNI had the fewest misses at that height to claim the title.

Women’s Long Jump: Bianca Stuart of Southern Illinois had the farthest leap, 20-07, to take the event.  Missouri State’s Kim Carter placed second (19-11) and last year’s league champion Janae Bridges of Indiana State was third (19-07.50).

Men Discus Throw:  WSU’s DePaul Brewer took the event with a throw of 178-03, Jesse Smith of UNI closed second (163-02) and Indiana State’s Jason Carruthers finished third (159-08).

Women’s High Jump:  UNI’s Crystal Hanson and Santia Spight of Indiana Sate both cleared the same height of 5-7 but Hanson captured the event in the jump-off.  Rachel Stevens of Wichita State posted a third-place height of 5-5.

Men’s Long Jump:  Cody Eichmeier of UNI claimed the event by two inches with a leap of 24-06.25.  He edged Marcus Gaines of Drake (24-4-.25), and his teammate Rozle Bucalo grabbed third-place points for the Panthers with a jump of 24-00.75.

Women’s 3000m Steeplechase:  Mica Land of Wichita State took the event with a standard of 10:35.84.  It’s the third-straight year a WSU runner has won the event. Missouri State Jamie Vest turned in a second-place time of 10:43.94, while Southern Illinois’ A’Seret Dokubo was third with a 10:56.76.

Men’s 3000m Steeplechase:  UNI’s Dylan Davis won the final race of the day with a time of 9:04.41, Sean Bowman (9:05.54) and Kyle Walsh (9:13.82) of Indiana State finished second and third, respectively.

The third and final day will begin on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. with the women’s shot put and the men’s pole vault.

State Farm/MVC Outdoor Track Championships – Day 1 Recap
The first day of the 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship at Drake University concluded with six student-athletes crowned league champions.  Most notably, Brittany Riley of Southern Illinois posted an MVC meet record in the hammer throw.

In the first day of the multi-events, Raven Cepeda of UNI leads the decathlon with 3,904 points and fellow Panther teammate Dani Stipe is on top in the heptathlon with a total of 3,097.  With just three events completed on both sides, Southern Illinois leads the men’s competition with 38 points and Wichita State has the women’s team lead with a 25 points.

Decathlon:
100m Dash:  Chris Dickman of Wichita State posted the top time – 10.92 – and earned 878 points in the first event of the decathlon.  UNI’s Raven Cepeda, the defending MVC Champion, was second (11.06 – 847 points) and his teammate Mat Clark finished third (11.08 – 843 points).

Long Jump:  Clark posted a leap of 23-00.50 to claim the event and 818 points.  Justin Taylor of Wichita State was second with a distance of 22-05.25 (776 points) and Dickman placed third with 22-03.50 (764 points).

Shot Put:  UNI’s Raven Cepeda earned 824 points with a collegiate personal-best toss of 51-00.25 in the third event of the day.  Wade Massey of Wichita State took second (38-11.75 – 599 points) and Indiana State’s Brian Jackson closed third (37-07.75 – 574 points).

High Jump:  Taylor garnered 803 points the high jump with a clearance of 6-06.75.  Cepeda tallied 749 points (6-04.25) and Dickman grabbed 723 points (6-03.25).

400m Dash:  Dickman seized the most points (853) with his time of 49.18.  Clark was second in the event (49.85 - 822) and Taylor closed third (51.14 - 763). 

With half the events completed, Cepeda stands first with a total of 3,904 points.  Clark will begin Day 2 in second place (3,742), Taylor in third (3,336), Dickman (3,372) and Indiana State’s Anthony Bertoli (3,338) in fourth and fifth, respectively.

Heptathlon:
100m hurdles:  Indiana State’s Erica Moore captured the first event of the heptathlon with a time of 14.41 – good for 921 points.  Frannie Epps of Illinois State placed second (14.53 – 905 points) and Dani Stipe of UNI closed third (14.76 – 874 points)

High Jump:  Emily Green of Wichita State and Stipe both cleared the height of 5-05.25 for 806 points.  Moore posted 736 points with a jump of 5-03.00. 

Shot Put:  Epps claimed her first event of the day, and 612 points, with a toss of 36-11.50.  Green was second (33-05.75 – 543 points) and Dana Sander of Indiana State third (32-10.50 – 531 points).

200m Dash:  Stipe picked up 925 points in winning the event with a time of 24.59.  Moore posted 898 points with a second place finish (24.88) and Alyssa Fischer of Northern Iowa was third in 25.33 (857 points).

After the first day, Stipe has an overall lead with 3,097 points, Moore is second (3,082), Fischer stands third (2,955) with Epps (2,897) and Green (2,729) rounding out the top-five.

Women’s Hammer Throw:  Southern Illinois’ Brittany Riley posted an MVC meet record toss of 219-03 to capture the event by almost twenty feet.  She bested her own meet standard of 211-03 set last year.  The junior became the fourth two-time hammer champion in league history.  Rachel Jansen of UNI placed second (199-07) and Wichita State’s Chandra Andrews was third (181-03). 

Men’s Javelin Throw:  Kyle Becker of Wichita State took first with a throw of 217-02.  He became the third-straight WSU thrower to win the event, and fifth in the last six years.  Marcin Kazubowski grabbed second with a chuck of 207-01 and two-time defending champion John Goldsmith was third (202-11).

Men’s Hammer Throw:  Indiana State’s Jason Carruthers won his second-straight hammer title with a toss of 199-10.  He became the fourth student-athlete in MVC history to win multiple hammer crowns.  Brenton Siemons of SIU earned a second place showing (186-08) and his teammate Joe Muller closed behind him for third (178-04).

Women’s Javelin Throw:  Erica Evans of Wichita State won the event with a mark of 148-08.  Evans became the 9th Shocker in the last 11 seasons to claim a javelin crown.  Drake’s Katie Starks posted a second-place throw of 136-10 and Lisa Barrett of Indiana State was third (135-07).

Women’s 10,000m Run:  Dani Prince of Indiana State used a strong second half of the race to win the title in a time of 36:23.74.  She became the first Sycamore to win the 10k crown since Melissa Utterback won in 1990. Carrie Vestal of Missouri State (36:32.16) and Ashley Anklam (36:47.60) of Drake finished second and third, respectively.

Men’s 10,000m Run:  Jeff Schirmer (31:03.19) and Mohamed Mohamed (31:09.57) finished one-and-two in the event for Southern Illinois.  Defending champion Justin Kunz of Indiana State was third in a time of 31:11.19.

Preview
The 2007 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championship is set to take place May 11-13, at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa and the coaches have voted Wichita State’s women and UNI’s men as favorites in the pre-championship poll.  UNI's men and women enter the championship holding national rankings in the TrackWire top-25, the men are 18th and the women 23rd.

The Shocker women, who received all eight first-place votes, are looking to claim their sixth-consecutive women’s track title after winning each of the past three outdoor titles and the past two indoor titles.

Wichita State has a balanced team with strength in the distance events, holding the MVC best times in the 1,500m (Kellyn Johnson, 4:22.92)), 5,000m (Johnson, 16:03.99) and the 3,000m steeple (Mica Land, 10:25.61). The Shocker have a solid group of pole vaulters, with three of the league’s top-five marks on the season.

The Shockers will look to capitalize at the top-end of the javelin with Erica Evans (45.95m) and Jenna Fast (41.91m) and triple jump with Stephanie Miller (12.51m) and Erika Kovesi (12.40m), with multiple contenders and earn valuable placement points in the shot put.

Indiana State was marked second 48 points and enters the championship with talented mid-distance and distance runners capable of scoring in the meet. The Sycamores also boast some of the top hurdlers in the league at 400m, with three of the top-six efforts on the spring, led by Erica Moore’s league-best 59.04.

One point behind in the women’s vote is UNI. The Panthers will look to the field events to the bulk of their scoring, led by All-American Rachel Jansen in the shot (17.13m) and discus (55.21m).

Missouri State was selected fourth with 38 points behind a sprint and mid-distance contingent led by freshman Leander Ernest and Genna Williams. Ernest holds the Valley’s top time in the 400 (54.30) and 800m (2:07.50) runs while Williams is the 100m best-time holder at 11.69.

Illinois State (34 points), Southern Illinois (30), Drake and Bradley round out the women’s pole.

Among the final four, keep an eye out for NCAA Champion Brittany Riley of Southern Illinois in the hammer throw and sprinters Anna Lovell and Devon Williams of Illinois State.

On the men’s side, UNI is the choice with 35 of a possible 36 points with five first-place votes.

The Panthers will rely heavily on big point performances from a decorated group of field athletes including All-Americans Raven Cepeda (decathlon), Cody Eichmeier (long jump) and Andre Poljanec (pole vault). UNI holds the top-three pole vault marks in the conference to this point, as well as the top long jump and decathlon score.

UNI will be formidable force in sprint with Terrance Reid in the 200 (21.32) and 400m and mid-distance runners Tyler Mulder, Kyle Smith and Dorian Ulrey.

Indiana State is a strong second-place pick by the coaches, accumulating 31 points and a single first-place tally.

The Sycamores hold the top 400m (Sean Wright, 46.25) and 800m (Kurt Heimann, 1:48.95) times in the conference and continue their top-end performances in the distance events and Justin Kunz is the league-leader in the 5,000m (14:22.43) and 10,000m (29:51.66).

Indiana State is strong in the steeple with the top two league times and in the triple jump where Jordan Paladin and Corey Dowden own the second and third-best leaps, respectively.

Wichita State’s men are pegged third in the poll with 23 points.

Stephon Simmons and Seth Cavanee have both ran as fast at 10.8 in the 100m while Girtz Azis is a threat for the 800 and 1,500m titles.

The Shocker men also hold strength in the javelin, holding four of the top-six throws.

Southern Illinois (15 points) and Illinois State tied for fourth in the poll, while Drake was slotted sixth.

Performers to note include Drake’s Jordan Malmstrom, the league’s 100m best-time holder (10.65), and Derek Johnson, who has run 14.01 in the 110 hurdles. Also, Southern Illinois’ Antwon Stapleton in the triple jump (15.76m).