CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Chase Pavelonis earned his first Missouri Valley Conference individual title in an exciting fashion Saturday afternoon at the MVC Championships, vaulting to an ISU record-breaking mark of 5.28 meters (17-03.75).
Pavelonis was the lone jumper to hit the 17-03.75 mark, beating his Wichita State counterpart who could not surpass the bar. He attempted to increase his personal-best, setting the bar at 5.35 meters (17-06.75). However, the senior standout could not vault over the new bar. Pavelonis was one of five All-Valley performances on the day for the Redbirds.
"I think it was a fantastic start today," director of track and field and cross country Jeff Bovee said. "We had a lot of standout performances, and I was really proud of how the athletes competed. We had a lot of wonderful things happen, including Chase Pavelonis winning his first conference championship and making that bar his all-time best bar. He had already won based on misses, but to put a stamp on it that was certainly one of the highlights of the day. I am just really proud of Chase and how much he has improved over the course of his four years here."
Women's Field
Jianna Williams was the first Redbird of the day to take home All-Valley honors, as she finished third in the weight throw with a best mark of 20.07 meters (65-10.25). Williams' heave of 65-10.25 came on her second throw, advancing her to the final round. However, Williams could not better that mark, as she finished behind a pair of Southern Illinois throwers. SIU's Deanna Price won the event at 21.06 meters (69-01.25).
Jalynn Roberts-Lewis leaped to a seasonal-best mark in the long jump, finishing 10th in the field with a best mark of 5.62 meters (18-05.25).
Men's Field
Kevin Fisch is the lone Redbird competing in the multi events. Fisch finished Saturday with season-best marks in the high jump, long jump and 60-meter dash. He currently sits in seventh of the heptathlon. Fisch also vaulted to a mark of 4.73 meters (15-06.25) in the men's open pole vault to finish 10th, while teammate Patrick Riley vaulted to a personal-best mark with a jump of 4.58 meters (15-00.25) to finish 12th overall.
Steven Hartzell jumped to a big personal-best mark in the long jump, leaping to 7.03 meters (23-00.75) on his first attempt. However, his jump did not quite advance him to the final round of nine.
Men's Track
The 400-meter finals will see three Redbird sprinters tomorrow, as Antonio Farley, CJ Hamilton and Anderson Devonish advanced to the final round of eight with times of 49.20, 49.70 and 49.70 respectively.
Also advancing to the finals tomorrow is Aidan Askin and Paul Steeno. The duo were the final two times to qualify in the men's mile, as they finished with 4:16.88 and 4:17.74, respectively.
JD LaFayette led the Redbird men in the 800-meter race, finishing second in the preliminary round with a time of 1:52.30. Tyler Rippel earned a qualifying time in the 800-meter race at 1:54.22, and freshman Kyle Hatton will advance to the final round because of a protest in the heat. Hatton's recorded time was 1:57.11.
Tyler Morse recorded points for the Redbird men, finishing fourth in the 5,000-meter race with a time of 14:33.28. Jesse Hahne earned the eighth spot in the 5K with a personal-best time of 14:35.65. Hahne was also the only freshman from all teams to score points in the event.
The men's DMR team finished third to earn All-Valley honors for the second-consecutive season. Ryan Bybee, Javar Cruz, Tye Sutherland and Jeff Bajema ran to a time of 10:11.44, finishing just behind the foursome of Loyola who clocked a time of 10.06.18. Bajema outkicked multiple teams in the final leg to capture All-Valley honors. The Bradley men won the event with a time of 10:04.09.
Women's Track
Kelly McShea captured her first All-Valley accolades of the weekend, finishing third in the 5,000-meter race. McShea passed her Indiana State counterpart in the final 100 meters to claim the third-place medal. She finished with a time of 16:51.68 behind Bradley's Caitlin Busch and Kristen Busch who clocked times of 16:47.40 and 16:47.97, respectively. McShea moves into the top-10 all-time ISU best list, sitting in the No. 7 spot. Haley Goers was also a point-scorer for the Redbird women in the 5,000-meter race, finishing with a time of 17:10.68 to place sixth overall.
The women's DMR team of Ariel Michalek, DeAsia Garrett, Kaley Ummel and Kim Christensen finished second in the relay with a time of 11:54.17 to earn All-Valley honors. Southern Illinois finished just ahead of the ISU foursome with a time of 11:53.22.
Katelyn Hill scored points for the Redbird women as well, finishing fourth overall in the 200-meter dash. Hill clocked a season-best time of 24.74 in the 200-meter after qualifying for the women's 60-meter high hurdles. Hill finished seventh overall in the preliminary event with a time of 8.65 to qualify for tomorrow's final round.
Ashley Kamin was the lone Redbird woman to advance to the finals in the mile, as she finished with a time of 5:01.60.
Sarah Mussallem and Roberts-Lewis each advanced to the final round of competition in their respective events, the 400-meter and 60-meter dash. Mussallem clocked a 400-meter time of 56.89, while Roberts-Lewis recorded a season-best 60-meter time of 7.60.
"We had a number of scorers, and we are set up nicely for day two for the number of qualifiers we had on the men's and women's side," Bovee said. "We have a lot of scoring opportunities tomorrow and are sitting in a very good place going into day two."
Tomorrow's events will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the 60-meter hurdles for the men's heptathlon. Field events are slated for an 11:30 a.m. start time, beginning with the women's triple jump, while the final track events are set to start at 1:45 p.m. with the women's mile.
The meet will be featured live on ESPN3 all day on Sunday.
Redbird fans can follow along with Illinois State track and field on Twitter @ISU_Track_XC or following the meet at www.GoRedbirds.com.
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