CHARLESTON, Ill. – The Illinois State men's and women's track and field teams head east to Charleston, Illinois, for the EIU John Craft Invitational Saturday, at the Lantz Fieldhouse. Field and track events set for respective 9 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. starts.
The Redbirds are joined in the field by Bradley, host school Eastern Illinois, Saint Louis and Western Illinois, with the addition of non-DI units from the Illinois Track Club, Judson College, Maryville (Mo.), McKendree, Rend Lake and Wabash Valley.
  
Illinois State will look to its sprints group to build on its success from last weekend. Anderson Devonish narrowly beat his Indiana State counterpart in the final leg of the men's 4x400-meter relay to cap off the Terre Haute Double Dual. The sophomore sprinter was joined in the 4x400 relay by Antonio Farley, Javar Cruz and JD LaFayette, as the foursome clocked a winning time of 3:19.13 to beat Indiana State's 3:19.23. Devonish earned another first-place medal on the evening, finishing with a 400-meter time of 49.64. Farley claimed the second-place 400-meter slot with a time of 49.91.
The middle distance crew of LaFayette, Tyler Rippel, Kyle Hatton and Aidan Askin will look to make an impact in the 800-meter race.
In the field events, the Redbirds will see action from freshman Evan Garretson. Garretson captured a second-place finish in his debut as a Redbird last weekend, tossing 47-11.75 in the shot put to claim the runner-up position and tossing a mark of 50-03.50 in the weight throw to finish third at the double dual.
Also in the field, senior leader Chase Pavelonis looks to continue his successful 2014-15 slate, as the vaulter captured the ISU indoor record earlier this winter. Freshman Patrick Riley will join Pavelonis in the pole vault.
On the women's side, the sprinting duo of Katelyn Hill and Jalynn Roberts-Lewis will look to build on last week's success. Hill proved to be a threat in the sprints, clocking a 200-meter time of 25.71 to finish second overall and ran to a second-place 60-meter hurdles time of 8.83, while Roberts-Lewis also showed strength in the event, finishing second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.73.
Haley Goers and Sydney Billingsley return to the track in the mile, while Ashley England and Lindsey Lewis will debut in the 3K.
Fans wanting to follow the Redbirds can on Twitter @ISU_Track_XC or following the conclusion of the meet at www.GoRedbirds.com.
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