BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Illinois State men's and women's track and field teams will split squads this week, as the Redbirds will travel to Bloomington, Indiana, for the annual Indiana Relays at Gladstein Fieldhouse and down the road to Bloomington, Illinois, for the Illinois Wesleyan Titan Open.
The Indiana Relays is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start time Friday afternoon, beginning with field events; the track events are slated for a 3:30 p.m. start time. The events will run through Saturday afternoon, concluding with the 4x400-meter relays. The Titan Open is a one-day event slated for a 10 a.m. start time on Saturday. The multi-event student-athletes will head to Northern Iowa for the Jack Jennett Invite.
Competing in Indiana, Illinois State will again look to senior Chase Pavelonis, as he is the lone Redbird contending in the pole vault. Pavelonis recently surpassed his own ISU record in the event, jumping to a mark of 16-07.25 to finish first in a field of 10 at the Eastern Illinois John Craft Invitational.
Accompanying Pavelonis in the field is freshman Evan Garretson, who recently recorded a third-place finish in the shot put with a mark of 48-11.75. Jianna Williams and Morgan Keller will join Garretson in the ring, as Williams looks to continue her successful 2014-15 indoor slate, competing in the invitational portion of both the shot put and weight throw. Keller will look to build on last week's performance, as she finished third in the weight throw with a mark of 50-01.75.
On the track, Kelly McShea and Ariel Michalek will make their 2014-15 debuts in the women's 3,000-meter contest. Most Recently, McShea captured a third-place finish and All-Valley honors at the 2014 Missouri Valley Conference Cross Country Championship, while Michalek led Redbirds at the Midwest Regional cross country meet with a 27th-place finish.
In the sprints, the Redbirds will look to Jalynn Roberts-Lewis, Sarah Mussallem and Ally Christiani. Mussallem won the 200-meter event last weekend, racing to a time of 25.87, finishing just ahead of Roberts-Lewis, who recorded a time 25.95. Roberts-Lewis also earned a second-place finish in the women's 60-meter dash, finishing with a time of 7.71.
Mussallem, Christiani, Katelyn Hill and DeAsia Garrett inched out a victory in the women's 4x400-meter relay at EIU with a winning time of 3:54.89. Hill will also compete in her signature event, the 60-meter hurdles.
Anderson Devonish will toe the line in the men's 400-meter sprint, while Redbirds JD LaFayette, Tyler Morse and Aidan Askin will also see action in the mile.
Dave Eckhart and Paul Steeno will be the Illinois State frontmen in the 3,000-meter race, and Jesse Hahne will be the lone Redbird in the 5K. Hahne is coming off a victory in the Eastern Illinois 3K, clocking a time of 8:38.87 to lead the pack.
The last time the Redbirds competed at the Indiana Relays, Williams claimed victory in her two events, while Askin and Eckhart clocked personal-best times in the mile race. Devonish ran to a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash, and he also helped his 4x400-meter relay team to an indoor seasonal-best time.
In the 5,000-meter race in 2014, Morse raced to a second-place finish.
Fans wishing to follow the Redbirds at the Indiana Relays can do so on Twitter @ISU_Track_XC, or following the conclusion of the meet on www.GoRedbirds.com.
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