NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State men's and women's track and field squads split this week for the Sun Devil Classic in Tempe, Arizona, and the Lee Calhoun Memorial Invitational at Western Illinois.
The Lee Calhoun Memorial Invitational will play host to 25 teams and over 400 athletes. The hammer throw is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start time Friday, while the rest of the track and field events are slated for a 9 a.m. start time on Saturday.
In Arizona, more than 1000 athletes from 61 high schools throughout the state of Arizona will compete on Thursday and Saturday, while the Sun Devils will compete against athletes from more than 50 institutions, clubs, and countries.
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On Friday, the collegiate field events will begin at Noon PT with the women's premiere hammer throw, while the first event on Saturday is the open section of the women's discus at 10 a.m. PT.
Running events on Saturday will begin at 2:34 p.m. PT with the finals of the high school girls 100m hurdles finals, with the collegiate women's race to follow at 2:37 p.m. PT.
The last time out on the track the Redbirds recorded multiple personal-best efforts, as Jianna Williams captured two personal-best marks in the hammer throw and shot put, earning Missouri Valley Conference Athlete of the Week honors for her performance. Williams heaved a mark of 60.57 meters (198-09) to place fifth overall in the hammer throw and 16.60 meters (54-05.50) to finish fourth in the shot put.
Also for the women, Ariel Michalek recorded a personal-best time of 10:21 in the steeplechase to win her heat at the Stanford Invitational. Michalek currently sits atop the Valley best list in the event.
For the men, Anderson Devonish ran to a Valley leading time of 21.20 in the 200-meter dash. Devonish also helped the men's 4x100-meter relay team of Steven Hartzell, Dante Hutton and Raimon Clay to a time of 41.14, the best ISU time in nine years. The foursome currently sits in the No. 2 spot on the Valle leaderboard.
Freshman JD LaFayette ran a 1:51 in the 800-meter race, barley missing first-place.
Follow the Redbirds on Twitter @ISU_Track_XC or at the conclusion of the meet on www.GoRedbirs.com.
