CHARLESTON, Ill. – In his debut meet of his senior campaign, Chase Pavelonis broke the indoor school record in the pole vault, jumping 16-06.75 and beating the former 26-year old ISU record held by Darren Nichols who marked 16-06.00 in 1988.
Pavelonis notched a personal-best mark, besting his former high of 16-04.75, which he earned at the 2013-14 Missouri Valley Conference indoor championships.
"We had a lot of great things happen on the day, including Chase breaking the school record in the pole vault," Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Jeff Bovee said. "For him to get an indoor PR and set the school record in this first meet of the season is great. I am very proud of him, and it will be the start of a great year for him."
After coming off a trip to the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Jianna Williams picked up two first-place medals on the evening in the weight throw and the shot put. The standout thrower notched a personal-best mark in the shot put, tossing 51-03.50 to better her former best mark by three feet. Williams also earned first place in the weight throw, heaving another personal-best mark of 64-07.25 and besting her former mark by nearly a foot.
In her Redbird debut, freshman Shelby Allen leaped to a mark of 39-03 in the triple jump on her final jump to take home first-place.
On the track, the men's DMR team of Tye Sutherland, Kyle Hatton, J.D. LaFayette and Tyler Rippel claimed first-place with a winning time of 10:36.50.
Anderson Devonish opened his sophomore year strong with two second-place finishes, including a 200-meter time of 22.28 and a 400-meter time of 49.49. Devonish was joined by CJ Hamilton, Jalen Lewis and Javar Cruz in the men's 4x400-meter relay who clocked a second-place time of 3:24.52.
On the women's side, Elise Anderson clocked a 200m time of 25.76 to finish second, while Katelyn Hill ran to a fourth-place finish with a time of 25.80. Sarah Mussallem earned sixth-place with a 200-meter time of 25.95 and one spot behind her was freshman LaDaisha Steen-Yates who clocked a time of 26.05.
Coming off her junior cross country season, Kaley Ummel opened her 2014-15 track campaign with a 600-meter time of 1:39.18.
Jalynn-Roberts Lewis captured a third-place finish in the women's long jump with a best mark of 17-09.75
"We had a lot of great competitive efforts today, and we had a lot of young athletes who got their first taste of collegiate track and field," Bovee said. "We did not look as sharp as we could have, but we also had some great compete efforts. The team is really starting to learn about themselves and the staff. So, overall, it was a good start to the indoor season."
Both the men's and women's track and field squads will return to action after break on Jan. 16, for the Terre Haute Double Dual.
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