NORMAL, Ill. – Coming off a strong performance last weekend in its home Redbird Invite, the Illinois State men's and women's track and field teams will head to Madison, Wisconsin, for the Wisconsin Twilight meet Friday in the final tune up before hosting the 2015 Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championship, May 15-17, in Normal.
The Wisconsin Twilight starts at 2p.m. (CT) Friday with field events at the McClimon Complex, while the first event on the track will be the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase beginning at 6 p.m.
"I see us ready to compete at a high level, coming off a great weekend at home last weekend," ISU Director of Track and Field Jeff Bovee said. "There are also a few spots up for grabs for the MVC Championship and we will use this meet as an assessment tool to figure out who makes up the 32-person rosters for next weekend. On the men's side, we have a lot more intrasquad battling for those last couple open slots and we a more open on the women's side. The key will be figuring out what combinations between the two will give us the best scoring chances are."
Last weekend, the Redbirds won 22 of a possible 34 events in its home Redbird Invitational and several student-athletes set new personal bests. Senior pole vaulter Chase Pavelonis set a school outdoor record with a mark of 17-01.00 to win his event and Anderson Devonish recorded a personal-best effort of 20.72 seconds to win the 200-meter dash, moving him into the No. 5 slot on the ISU all-time list in the event.
"Chase has been vaulting very well, but we want to improve upon the success we had in the jumps last weekend as well and extend some of the marks from last weekend," Bovee said. "On the track, we would like to see Javar Cruz in the hurdles drop his time and the guys in the 400 meter improve their seed times headed into the Valley."
Jianna Williams came away with a pair of wins in the hammer throw (205-04), with over a two-meter personal best, and also took the top spot in the shot put with a throw of 51-07.25 at the Redbird Invite. Amanda Young won the pole vault event with a mark of 11-01.00 and also taking top honors was Haley Becker in the high jump with a mark of 5-05.75. On the track, the women swept the relays and Jalynn Roberts-Lewis took first in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.78 seconds, as the Redbirds finished 1-4 in the event.
"On the women's side, we want to see continued improvement in the field events," Bovee stated. "Last weekend was one of our best performances across the board, in the jumps especially. Those are some of the events we have needed some help in throughout the year, and we received a nice boost from that group last weekend. Overall, we just want to be consistent in how we get ourselves prepared for competition."
In addition to the group heading to Wisconsin, the men's 4x400 team consisting of Devonish, Jalen Lewis, Antonio Farley and CJ Hamilton will run at the EIU Last Chance meet in hopes of qualifying time for the NCAA meet. For live updates, follow the Redbirds on Twitter @ISU_Track_XC or click on the live results from the Wisconsin Twilight HERE.
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