Hutson captures third straight title at NCAA national championships

Indiana State seniors Kylie Hutson, Lauren Martin and Erica Moore were named All-Americans this past weekend for their efforts in the 2010 NCAA Div. I Indoor Track and Field National Championships.

Hutson finished best for the Sycamores when she was crowned champion of the pole vault competition. This was the second year in a row that she has won that event and the third straight National Championship, as she also captured the outdoor title last spring.

“Kylie started off really well but at 4.40 [meters], she had two misses and was behind,” pole vault coach Jeff Martin said. “Once she cleared that bar on her third attempt, her confidence was back and she went on to win the competition only a couple of jumps later.

Moving to outdoors, the goals will be the same as they were for indoors, to win every meet and try to jump just a little bit higher and of course, to defend her title.”

Women’s head coach John Gartland was also excited to see Kylie reach her goals and defend her national title.

“With two misses, Kylie looked like she might be out of it and that the Oregon girl was going to beat her, but suddenly, under pressure she was able to pull out a great jump and went on to clear two more bars for the win,” Gartland said.

Lauren Martin finished fifth in the triple jump competition, her best finish.  This was her third time as an All-American in only three national appearances.

Lauren Martin also set a new school record in the process with a leap of 43 feet, 10.5 inches” (13.37 meters).

“My expectations heading into the meet were to be in the top eight and get a plaque,” Lauren said. “I am overwhelmed with how I did.”

Lauren Martin was excited to have done as well as she did in her senior year and was happy to know that her jump also helped the team succeed.

“My senior year at NCAAs and I couldn’t ask for more,” Lauren Martin said. “We had our highest team score since 1991, it helped to have Kylie on the runway right next to me. It helped to have that teammate there as we cheered each other on. It was comforting to know that I wasn’t alone. It was a dream come true and I am ready for outdoors.”

Moore finished ninth in the 800 meter run, only a few tenths of a second away from making the final for that event, but her performance was good enough to earn her All-American honors.

“Being an All-American was a good consolation to the meet,” Moore said. “It was disappointing not making the final, but I was as prepared as I could have been and ran as well as I think I could have run. I’m ready for outdoor to be here. I feel like I have goals that didn’t get reached and I’m ready to get those accomplished.”

Junior Kelsey Hanley finished 13th in the women’s weight throw, her second trip to nationals after finishing 15th last season.

“Kelsey has been consistent all season and had a great conference meet; however, things just didn’t go her way at nationals,” Gartland said. “It was a strange setup because they had the throws in a different building than the rest of the meet, so I didn’t have the feeling of a normal meet.”

Out of 60 teams, the women’s team finished the meet in a tie for 17th place with Villanova. ISU placed better than Missouri Valley Conference rival Southern Illinois by three points and in-state rival Indiana University by 6 points.

“Lauren went into the triple jump and was very steady, she set the school record and was able to hang on to fifth place which gave us four team points and helped us to our eventual team finish of 17th,” Gartland said. “Kylie’s 10 points obviously helped out, but that was a good effort to help the team by those two individuals.”

Junior Major Clay was the only male athlete to compete for the Sycamores. His efforts in the high jump competition placed him 12th with a jump of 7 feet, 1/4 inches” (2.14 m).

“We have made progress each time he gets to NCAAs or a National Championship meet, and by clearing the 7 feet, 1/4 inches he now has cleared a bar in a national meet,” Gartland said. “We talked today about goals for the future and what we need to do this outdoor season. Major is ready to go, we just need to get his foot back to full health and he will be ready to make a run at the outdoor championships.”

Hutson will be honored at Beef O’Brady’s on Thursday night from 5 to 7 p.m. A formal presentation will be made at 6 p.m., and she will be available for autographs afterward.

The Sycamores will return to action March 26 at the EIU Quadranular meet hosted by Eastern Illinois University in Charleston, Ill..