IOWA CITY, Iowa – At Saturday's Jimmy Grant Invite, hosted by Iowa, the Illinois State men's and women's track and field teams opened the 2018-19 season on a high note, capturing eight individual event wins and posting nine ISU all-time top-10 performances. The Redbirds received a huge boost from the jumps and throws squads, who accounted for half of the individual event wins and seven of the all-time top-10 marks.
"Overall, we had quite a few event wins and I was very impressed with our depth in the field events," said Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Jeff Bovee. "We have improved across the board in the field from a year ago, and I feel confident that we will have balance on the team again this year. We had some great wins on the track today as well, and I think that we have a lot of things to feel good about after today."
IN THE FIELD
The Redbirds found success from the onset of the meet, starting with Sydney Laufenberg's personal-best heave in the weight throw (17.94m/58-10.00). Not only was her mark good for third place, but it ranks seventh all-time in Illinois State track and field history.
Illinois State's high jump crew followed suit, as Francis Ehigbai and Kameesha Smith both captured victories to complete the Redbird sweep of the event. Ehigbai cleared 2.10m (6-10.75) and Smith cleared 1.75m (5-08.75), both heights of which are personal-bests. Smith's clearance also improves her to sixth all-time on the Redbirds' top-10 list. Another notable performance in the high jump came from Kristin Higgins, who notched a personal-record height of 1.70m (5-7.00) to place third. With the mark, she ranks 10th all-time in Redbird track and field history.
James Brandenburg recorded a victory of his own in the long jump, leaping 7.10m (23-03.50) to post a strong start to his senior campaign. Charde Golliday also excelled in the horizontal jumps, capturing second place finishes in the long jump (5.76m/18-10.75) and triple jump (12.08m/39-08.50).
The women's pole vault squad proved that they are going to be a force to be reckoned with this season, recording a 1-2-3 finish. 2018 MVC Indoor Pole Vault Runner-Up Ariana Cranston led the way, clearing an indoor personal-best 3.80m (12-05.50) to win the event and improve to fourth all-time on Illinois State's top-10 list. Nicole Bagwell also cracked the top-10 list, vaulting an indoor personal-best 3.65m (11-11.75) to place second and rank fifth all-time in Redbird history. In her collegiate debut, freshmen Ali Cranston cleared 3.35m (10-11.75) to finish third.
Senior Brandy Thomas also opened her season in style, winning the shot put competition with an indoor personal-record throw of 15.20m (49-10.50). Her distance places her sixth on ISU's top-10 list. Logan Calvin cracked ISU's top-10 list in the shot put as well, placing fifth in the men's competition with the fifth-farthest throw in ISU track and field history (17.57m/57-07.75).
ON THE TRACK
The Redbirds also found success on the track. Jack Anstey and Hattie Plumb ran to victories in the 1,000-meter run, both posting ISU all-time top-10 performances as well. Anstey posted a time of 2:24.25, just missing the meet and facility record, and notching the third-fastest time in Redbird track and field history. Plumb won her race in 2:54.00 to capture the sixth-best time on the ISU top-10 list.
Grace Beattie ran a gutsy race in the mile, starting the race strong and finishing it even stronger to win her first race back after red-shirting the 2018 cross country campaign. She crossed the finish line first in 4:53.11. The final event win of the day came from freshman Destiny White, who won the 300-meter in her collegiate debut with a time of 41.45.
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Women's 60-meter Hurdles
3rd - Ashlee Stieler (8.94), personal-best
5th - Jordyn Bruce (9.02)
Women's Shot Put
4th - Tayler Weaver (14.69m/48-02.50), personal-best
Women's Weight Throw
6th - Hannah Johnson (16.91m/55-05.00)
Men's 60-meter
2nd - Dion Hooker (6.94)
Men's Pole Vault
3rd - Luke Nelson (5.00m/16-04.75)
Men's Triple Jump
2nd - Alex Saunders (14.20m/46-07.25)
Men's Weight Throw
4th - Logan Calvin (17.03m/55-10.00), personal-best
5th - Sam Weisz (16.78m/55-00.00), personal-best
NEXT UP
The Illinois State men's and women's track & field teams will be back in action on Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019, when they compete in the annual Double Dual against Indiana State.
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