SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Five 200-meter sprinters ran to personal-best times, while senior standout Jianna Williams tossed a personal-best mark in the weight throw Friday evening at the famed Meyo Invitational at Notre Dame's Loftus Center.
Williams was the lone Redbird to finish in first Friday evening, as the senior thrower tossed a personal-best mark of 20.28 meters in the weight throw. With that throw, Williams now checks in at the No. 21 spot on the NCAA leaderboard, as she was formerly No. 25 from last weekend's mark.
"The two biggest highlights would be Jianna in the women's weight and the 200-meter sprints," director of track and field and cross country Jeff Bovee said. "It puts her close to the top-20 of the weight throw in the NCAA, and I think she will continue to improve. She has a good chance at qualifying for the NCAA Championships, and I know she has her eye on that. She and coach Williams have been working well together and will have to keep working hard to put it all together."
Five-of-six Illinois State sprinters ran to all-time bests, highlighted by Anderson Devonish who ran 21.59 to finish sixth overall in a field of 55 sprinters. Devonish's time puts him in the No. 3 spot on the Missouri Valley Conference 2014-15 best list, and the sophomore sprinter also checks in at No. 4 on the Illinois State all-time best list. Antonio Farley finished with a personal-best time of 22.36, recording a 39th-place finish. Javar Cruz clocked a personal-best time of 22.42.
On the women's side, freshman Katelyn Hill led the 200-meter sprinters with a personal-best time of 25.06, and Sarah Mussallem clocked an all-time best of 25.09 to finish in the top half of the 74-person field.
"The 200 was a good event for us tonight," Bovee said. "We had six compete, and five get all-time bests, highlighted by Andy's 21.59, which is No. 3 on the Valley list, a big breakthrough for Andy."
Women's Track
The women's distance medley relay team of Haley Goers, Ally Christiani, Kaley Ummel and Kelly McShea ran to a 2014-15 Valley best time of 11:41.38. The DMR team was anchored by a strong mile from McShea who clocked a 4:54 mile split time. The foursome continues to improve week by week, knocking 26 seconds off of last weekend's season-best time.
Jalynn Roberts-Lewis tied a season-best time of 25.49 in the 200-meter sprint.
Hill finished with a 60-meter hurdles time of 8.96 and did not qualify for tomorrow's finals.
Men's Track
The men's DMR team also ran a strong race, with a personal-best split time from Jalen Lewis who recorded a 400 time of 48.7. Aidan Askin led the foursome with a solid 1,200-meter leg, and Kyle Hatton and Ryan Bybee were integral parts of the 10:00.97 finish.
Sean Senf clocked a 5,000-meter time of 15:01.93.
Women's Field
Taylor Knauf improved her season-best mark in the women's pole vault, jumping to 3.61 meters. Knauf finished in a tie for fifth.
Men's Field
Chase Pavelonis will look to break his pole vault record for the third-consecutive week, as the senior captain jumps at 2 p.m. EST.
The women's 3,000-meter race is slated for a 10 a.m. EST start time, while the field events will follow at 10:30 a.m. EST.
Flotrack will broadcast the Meyo Invitational with total coverage of both days of the event. Live results will be available via deltatiming.com.
Fans can also follow along with the Redbirds via Twitter @ISU_Track_XC, or following the conclusion of each day's events on www.GoRedbirds.com.
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