NORMAL, Ill. – Coming off of their first sweep of the MVC Indoor Track & Field Championships since 1997, the Illinois State men's and women's track & field teams will begin the 2018 outdoor slate Friday when they compete in the Black & Gold Invitational, hosted by Vanderbilt, in Nashville, Tennessee.
The two-day meet will begin Friday at 3 p.m. with a variety of field events. Friday's running events will follow at 4 p.m. with the women's 200-meter. The meet will resume Saturday morning, with field events getting underway at 9 a.m. and running events at 11 a.m.
A number of the Redbirds' top-performers from the indoor Valley championships will be in action this weekend. On the track, the 2018 MVC Indoor Most Valuable Athletes, Anderson Devonish and D'Jenne Egharevba, will run their first races of the outdoor season. Devonish will compete in the 200-meter dash on Friday, while Egharevba will race in the 100-meter dash on Saturday.
Demetria Anderson, the 2018 MVC indoor 60-meter hurdles champion, will also compete this weekend. She will look to make her presence known in the 100-meter hurdles on Saturday.
Illinois State's distance crew will be in full-force this weekend as well. The 2018 MVC indoor Elite 17 Award winner and 800-meter champion, J.D. LaFayette, will run his first 800-meter of the outdoor campaign. Hattie Plumb, the 800-meter indoor runner-up at the Valley meet, will also compete in the 800-meter this weekend, in addition to the 1,500-meter.
In the field, the men's pole vault squad that claimed the top-four spots at the 2018 MVC indoor championships is back and ready for more. Ryan Ashenbremer, Kellen Kravik, Luke Nelson, and Sam Peschke will all partake in Friday's men's pole vault competition.
Amanda McClain and Kameesha Smith, the 2018 indoor Valley champion and runner-up in the long jump, are ready to pick up right where they left off. They will both compete in the women's long jump on Saturday morning.
In the women's shot put, the 2017 outdoor and 2018 indoor MVC Champion, Brandy Thomas, will begin her journey for a third-consecutive shot put title Friday. Sydney Laufenberg, the 2017 Valley champion in the discus, will make her 2018 debut in the event this weekend.
Redbird fans can follow live action of this weekend's meet on Twitter via @Redbird_TrackXC. Full coverage will be available on GoRedbirds.com following the conclusion of each day of the meet.
GoRedbirds.com: Your online source for Illinois State Athletics tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
