MEET NOTES
NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's and women's track and field teams split squads this weekend, as Kelly McShea, Ryan Rutherford and Tyler Morse head to California, while the rest of the team will compete in the Big Blue Classic hosted by Eastern Illinois University.
McShea and Rutherford will compete at Stanford in the Stanford Invitational. McShea will run in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase set to begin at 7:36 p.m. CST. She posted a third-place steeplechase performance at the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship meet. Her personal-best is a time of 10:10.59, which is the third fastest time in ISU history.
Rutherford will seek to reclaim the MVC record in the men's 10,000-meter run, as he held the record in 2014 until Indiana State John Mascari broke it last year (2015). Rutherford holds the school record in the men's 10,000-meter run with a time of 28:41.23, He also holds the men's 5,000-meter run with a time of 13:49.99. The men's 10,000-meter is set to begin at 11:42 p.m. CST at Stanford.
Morse returns to the track as he will compete at San Diego State in the men's 5,000-meter run, which will start at 6:30 p.m. CST.
The action at Eastern Illinois will begin at 1 p.m. CST on Friday with the men's hammer throw. Track events will start at 5:30 p.m. CST with the 5,000-meter run. The Redbirds will return to EIU on Saturday, April 2, and competition will begin with the women's discus throw at 9:30 a.m. CST, while running events will start at 11:30 a.m. CST with the men's 110-meter hurdles.
Morgan Keller will look to lead the way for the women's thrower after she had a strong performance last weekend at the Bill Cornell Spring Classic. She posted a first-place finish in the women's discus throw, and captured fourth place in the women's shot put.
Missouri Valley women's pole vault champion, Emily Clay will look to make a difference in the women's pole vault, along with other quality Redbirds competing in field events at EIU.
On the track, seniors captain Sarah Mussallem will look to make an impact in the women's 400-meter dash and the 4x400-meter relay. Mussallem captured her first Missouri Valley title in the women's 400-meter dash at the Missouri Valley Indoor Championships.
There will be an invitational 1,500-meter run with a number of quality athletes. On the women's side, Haley Goers, Jackie Mink, and Kimi Sanden will try to make a run to be one of the top-finishers.
Ashley England and Haley Verbeke will represent the Redbirds in the women's 5,000-meter run.
On the men's side, reigning MVC 400-meter champion, Anderson Devonish will lead ISU in the 200 meter and 400-meter dash.Â
JD LaFayette, Ryan Bybee and Aidan Askin will represent the Redbirds in the men's invitational 1,500-meter run.
There will be a number of key distance runners competing in the men's 5,000-meter run, which includes Jeff Bajema, Dave Eckhart, Jesse Hahne, and Kyle Mattes.
Last week, Jake Glass finished fifth in the men's shot put, while Zachary Gregory placed eighth in the men's hammer throw. They look to have similar success this weekend.
Both men's and women's student-athletes will compete in their season-debut of the 3,000-meter steeplechase, which is a signature event that has many quality athletes competing in at EIU.
FloTrack will provide full cover of the Stanford Invitational to FloPro subscribers. Fans can follow live results from the Big Blue Classic at http://www.sidearmstats.com/eiu/track/, or via Twitter by following @Redbird_TrackXC. Full coverage will follow at the conclusion of each day www.GoRedbirds.com
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