Final Results | Final Results (PDF)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With temperatures approaching 90 degrees and little wind to deal with Saturday, the Illinois State men's and women's track & field teams continued to improve its numbers at Louisville's Lenny Lyles-Clark Wood Invitational.
Amanda McClain made her season debut in the 400-meter dash and set the meet record with an all-time personal best of 54.06. She now leads the Missouri Valley Conference in both the 400 meters and the long jump.
McClain was also the third leg of the 4x400-meter relay team, which finished in third place with a season-best time of 3:41.67. Joining McClain in setting the ninth-fastest time in program history was Allison Christiani, D'Jenne Egharevba and Ashleigh Wilson.
The 4x100-meter relay squad of Emily Cowan, DeNae Gill, Demetria Anderson and Egharevba clocked a season-best time of 45.88, which is now the ninth-fastest time in program history.
Rayanne Wright crossed the finish line in second place in the 800-meter run at 2:11.12, setting the team's season-best time in the event while cracking the program's all-time top-10 list. Also in the race, Sydney Billingsley established a new personal record of 2:15.79, and Kennidi Knoblock ran the race for the first time all season and just missed tying her personal record by one-one hundredth of a second, finishing in 2:22.19.
Anderson set a personal record in the 100-meter hurdles, as she crossed the finish line in second place with the third-fastest time in program history, 13.86, and the team's season's best of the season. Jordyn Bruce and Whitney Ward both competed in the 400-meter hurdles, with Bruce cracking the all-time top-10 list with a time of 1:02.31, and Ward setting a personal-record time of 1:03.28.
Rounding out the track portion of the meet on the women's side, Gill ran a personal-record time of 12.28 in the 100-meter dash, and Billingsley and Ariel Michalek both set season bests in the 1500-meter run. Billingsley crossed the finish line in a personal-record time of 4:33.43, and Michalek finished in 4:34.36, as she missed tying her personal record by one-tenth of a second.
In the field, Morgan Keller set a personal record and team-season best in the discus, as she manufactured a throw of 51.87m (170-02), which is the fourth-longest throw in program history. Brandy Thomas launched the sixth-longest shot put in program history, 14.98m (49-01.75), also setting a new personal record.
In the hammer throw, Sydney Laufenberg produced a personal-best throw of 46.61m (152-11), and Ariana Cranston moved into an eighth-place tie on the all-time list in the pole vault after clearing 3.58m (11-09.00).
On the men's side, Justin Agustin won the 400-meter hurdles with a personal-record time of 53.05, which is the team's season-best time and sixth-fastest time in program history. Also finishing in first place was Derrius Rodgers, who won the 100-meter dash in 10.43, tying for the sixth-fastest time in program history.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Dion Hooker, Jalen Lewis, Deshaun Jordan and Rodgers finished in second place with a season-best time of 40.62, which is the sixth-fastest time in program history.
Andy Hatch and Jordan both set personal records in the 200-meter dash. Hatch constructed the team's second-fastest time of the season, 21.78, while Jordan ran the third-fastest time, 21.98. And in the 800-meter run, Kimathi Johnson set a personal-record time of 1:53.62.
In the field, Anthony McRoberts broke 50 feet in the triple jump to finish in second place with a jump of 15.28m (50-01.75) to set a personal record and move into eighth place on the program's all-time list.
"Anthony McRoberts had a tremendous effort in the triple jump, breaking the 50-foot barrier for the first time, and improved his personal best by almost two feet," Director of Track and Field Jeff Bovee said.
Kellen Kravik finished in third place in the pole vault, as he cleared 4.67m (15-03.75), missing his personal record by .01. Daniel Webber set a new personal record and a team-season best in the discus with a throw of 47.75m (156-08).
"We had many personal bests in the 400-meter hurdles, 800 meters and 1500 meters today, which I think is a reflection of not only improved fitness levels, but also warm temperatures and little wind, which hindered us the past few meets," Bovee said. "All of the relays had solid performances, which is great to see as we inch our way towards the conference championships, and the throwers are consistently improving week by week."
The Redbirds return to action Friday, May 5, when they travel to Madison, Wisconsin, to compete in the Wisconsin Invitational.
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