Redbird Track & Field/Cross Country Signs 15 NLI’s to the 2016-17 Season

NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State Track and Field and Cross Country programs added 15 signees to the 2016-17 recruiting class, as announced by Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Jeff Bovee Tuesday. The signing class includes 28 student-athletes for ISU track and field: 13 signed during the fall while 15 signed this spring.

"The 2016 spring signing class is a balanced attack by our entire staff to plug in holes in several event areas," Bovee said. "We are well represented in all of the disciplines with a very accomplished group of young men and women. I can't be more excited about the future of this program considering the depth and talent of the entire 2016 class from both the early signing period in November and the more recent signing period this spring."

"The most noticeable improvements in our program will be seen in the hurdle events, jumping events, and combined events," Bovee continues. "These are all areas that needed more attention to be able to compete for Valley titles and I think the staff did a great job finding quality people to fill these roster spots.  Likewise, we also were able to find key recruits in areas that we are traditionally strong in like the throws, sprints, and the distance events. All in all, our staff will be working hard to mentor this group to transition smoothly to ISU and to build upon the successful team finishes in 2015-2016."

Sprints/Hurdles

The Redbirds add Whitney Ward (Gwendoyln Brooks College Prep Academy/Chicago, Ill.), Tara Schumacher (Oswego East High School/Oswego, Ill.), and Duane Sleet (Davenport Central High School/ Davenport, Iowa) and Derrius Rodgers (Lockport Twp. High School/Lockport, Ill.) to the sprint and hurdles crew.

Ward was the 2016 2A Illinois High School Association (IHSA) State runner-up in the 300-meter hurdles. Her personal-best 300-meter hurdles is a time of 44.73. She placed ninth in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2016 IHSA Girls' State Championships, and captured her personal-best time in the prelims at 15.37. Ward's personal-best 200-meter dash is a time of 25.16, while her 400-meter dash PR is 56.92.

Schumacher placed fifth in both the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles at the 2016 IHSA 3A Girls' State Track and Field Championships. Her personal-best in the 100-meter hurdles is a time at 14.52, while her 300-meter hurdles PR is a time of 45.10.

Rodgers is currently ranked fourth in the 200-meter dash amongst all classes in the state of Illinois. His personal best is a time of 21.42 in the event.  He is also ranked ninth in the 100-meter dash with his PR of 10.60. He was the runner-up in both the 100 and the 200 at the 2016 IHSA Boys' State Track and Field Championships. At the 3A Indoor Top Times, Rodgers ran his personal best 60-meter dash time of 6.87 in the finals to capture the Championship.

Sleet finished third at the 2016 Iowa State High School Track and Field Championships in the 110-meter hurdles with a personal-best time of 14.62. He also placed third in the 110-meter hurdles at the 2015 state meet. Sleet qualified for the 2016 New Balance Nationals in the high hurdles and finished 12th overall.

Distance

Mariah Brodie (Illini West High School/Carthage, Ill.), Kimathi Johnson (Oak Park-River Forest High School/Oak Park, Ill.) and Kevin Koski (Chequamegon High School/Park Falls, Wis.) will join Biddle, Clowser, Moore and Roman as additions to the distance crew.

Brodie medaled in two events at the 2016 IHSA 1A Girls' State Track and Field Championships. She finished third in the 800-meter run and anchored her team in the 4x400-meter relay to a third-place finish. Brodie's current personal-best are 58.98 in the 400-meter dash and 2:14.95 in the 800-meter run.

Koski is a two-time Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) Division 3 State Champion in cross country. During the 2015 cross country season, Koski qualified for the Nike Cross Country Nationals. He captured his personal-best cross country 5K at the 2015 Nike Cross Nationals Heartland Regional meet with a time of 15:30, placing eighth overall. Koski holds a personal-best in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:20.66. His 3,000-meter run PR time is 9:27.58.

Johnson captured his personal best three-mile time this cross country season when he ran a time of 15:07 at the Richard Spring Invitational. He owns a personal-best 800-meter run at a time of 1:56.11. Johnson finished ninth place at the 2016 IHSA Boys' State Track and Field Championships in the 800 meter. He anchored the 4x800-meter relay and posted a 1:53 split to bring his team to a runner-up finish.

Jumps

In the field, Ariana Cranston (Angola High School/Angola, Ind.) and Luke Nelson (Oak Park-River Forest High School/Oak Park, Ill.) join Kravik and Opichka in representing the Redbirds pole vault signing class.

Cranston's personal-best height is a mark of 11-06, which was set with her win at the IHSAA Girls' Track and Field Regional Meet. She is a two-time Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) Girls' State Championships qualifier in both indoors and outdoors.

Nelson won the 2016 Windy City Pole Vault Summit where he vaulted a personal best of 15-01. He is a two-time IHSA 3A state finalist. At the 2016 IHSA Boys' Track and field Championships, Nelson notched sixth place in pole vault.

Anthony McRoberts (Cahokia High School/Cahokia, Ill.) will compete in horizontal and vertical jumps for the Redbirds. McRoberts is ranked third in the high jump in Illinois with a clearance of 6-11. In the triple jump, McRoberts is ranked seventh in Illinois at a mark of 47-05.25 and was runner-up at the state championships. McRoberts also competed as a finalist in the long jump where he finished fourth with a mark of 22-08. McRoberts is a USATF Junior Qualifier in the high jump, where he will compete for a spot on the USA World Junior Team.

Throws

Tayler Weaver (Mattoon High School/Mattoon, Ill.) and Dan Webber (Wheaton North High School/Wheaton, Ill.) complete the throwing class.

Weaver is a two-time state qualifier in shot put. At the 2016 IHSA Girls' State Championships, she finished 12th in the event. Her personal-best shot put is a toss of 42-01 and has a personal-best is a discus throw mark of 121-10.

Webber is two-time state qualifier in the discus throw. He placed fourth at the 2016 IHSA Boys' State Track and Field Championships, and his personal-best in the event is182-05.

Combined Events

McKendra Bathelme (Newton High School/Newtown, Ill.), Jordyn Bruce (Eagle River High School/Eagle River, Alaska) and Jordan Wilkerson (Ben Davis High School/Indianapolis, Ind.) will compete in the combined events for the Redbirds.

Bathelme posted her personal-best in the 300-meter hurdle at the 2016 IHSA Girls' State Track and Field Championships with a time of 47.24. Bathelme ran her personal-best 100-meter hurdle at a time of 14.53 and placed second overall. She achieved a personal-best long jump at the Illinois Top Times with a mark of 18-02.50.

Bruce is the Alaska State Champion in the 100-meter hurdles. Her personal-best is a time of 14.85 in the event. Bruce was also the runner-up in the 300-meter hurdles at the state meet with a new personal-best time at 43.80. She medaled in the 200-meter dash at the state championships, where she finished third. She owns a personal best 200-meter time at 25.80.

Wilkerson will compete in the combined events for the men. During the 2016 season, he captured a third-place finish at the Indiana High School Athletic Association Regional Meet. At the Hoosier State Relays, Wilkerson cleared a height of 6-06, which is his personal-best mark. Wilkerson holds a personal-best 400-meter dash time of 50.11.

For more information on the upcoming season please visit GoRedbirds.com. Below is a complete list of the incoming student-athletes for the 2016-17 season.

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