A year after finishing in last place in the Bowling Green Invitational, the Ball State University track and field team placed second out of five teams Friday in the same meet.
The Cardinals finished with 130 points, while the University of Cincinnati finished with 141, Bowling Green State University with 116, Eastern Michigan University with 79 and IPFW with 24.
Ball State head coach Randy Heisler said he was happy with the improvement.
"It was definitely a learning experience, but I came away very pleased, especially compared to last year," he said.
One reason for the turnaround was an improved performance in the field events. Ball State failed to score a single point in the field events in last year's event, Heisler said.
On Friday, the Cardinals found success in both the jumps and the throws.
Terri Abraham won the long jump with a leap of 19 feet and one-half inch. Lindsay Bangert, who also placed second in the triple jump with a distance of 33 feet, finished fourth with a jump of 11 feet and one-quarter inch.
Cara Collins continued her senior season by taking second place in the shot put with a toss of 43 feet four and 1/4 inches. Her throw of 55 feet and five inches in the weight throw was enough to earn her a third place finish. Collins attributed her success to her steady workout plan.
"I've been able to stay focused and work hard throughout the summer," Collins said. "We have a great weight program and a great weight coach, which has really helped me improve my performance."
Collins also recognized the importance of proper coaching.
"This is the first time in three years that we've had a throwing coach," she said. "Coach Heisler is the best of the best."
On the track, Ali Bishel won the one-mile run and finished second in the 800-meter run with times of 4:58.57 and 2:17.63.
Katie Johnson was one of four Cardinals to finish in the top six spots in the 60-meter hurdles. She took third place in the event with a time of 8.83 seconds and placed fourth in the 300-meter dash.
However, Heisler said he was most impressed by Brittany Ade. The sophomore runner won the 3,000-meter run in a time of 10:19.85.
"She won the race, ran a lifetime best and beat some good kids from the other schools," Heisler said.
Other third place finishers for Ball State were Brandi Robinson in the 400-meter dash, Jenna Schmitmeyer in the 500-meter run and Laura Bandy in the 5,000-meter run.
Heisler said he was optimistic after watching his team compete against other schools for the first time this year.
"We were 11 points from beating Cincinnati and they're a good team in the Big East," Heisler said. "It was a great first team competition. We had a lot of really good performances across the board."
The Cardinals will look to carry the momentum into Bloomington this Saturday for the Gladstein Invitational.
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