ST. LOUIS – After sweeping the last two Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championship titles on the women's and men's side, Illinois State track & field was picked to complete a three-peat in both the women's and men's MVC Indoor Pre-Season Poll announced by the league office Tuesday afternoon.
The Redbirds' sweep of the Valley team titles marked the first time in program history that Illinois State recorded a back-to-back sweep. The 'Birds will look to continue making history in the 2019-20 season as they go for their third-straight team title sweep at the MVC Indoor Championships.
If both Illinois State teams take home Valley indoor titles in 2020, it will mark the first time in MVC history that a program has swept the team titles three years in a row. A victory at the MVC Championships would give each team its 12th indoor conference title overall.
Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jeff Bovee has led the women's and men's track & field programs to a combined five indoor conference titles and two outdoor conference titles since taking over at the start of the 2014-15 season. Bovee also has led the cross country program to two team titles. The women currently lead the Missouri Valley with 11 indoor team titles, while the men, who also have 11 indoor team titles, are third behind Southern Illinois and UNI.
At the 2019 Valley Indoor Championships, the Redbird women finished 173 points to beat runner-up Indiana State by 32 points, while the ISU men recorded 159 points to top UNI by 14.5 points. In 2018, ISU won by a combined 105 points in route to their first indoor sweep since 1997, with the men dominating by a 70-point margin and the women securing the victory with a 35-point win.
For the second-straight year the Illinois State women received all 10 first-place votes for 100 points. Southern Illinois and Indiana State both finished with 83 points in a tie for second place, followed by UNI in third with 72 points. Missouri State (fourth) and Loyola-Chicago (fifth) rounded out the top five on the women's pre-season poll with 58 points and 53 points, respectively.
The Redbirds received five of the possible nine first-place votes on the men's side for 76 points, just edging UNI who garnered four first-place votes for 74 points. Indiana State (64 points), Southern Illinois (54 points) and Bradley (42 points) complete the top-five men's teams in the pre-season poll.
The trio of Ariana Cranston (pole vault), Hattie Plumb (800m) and Kristin Higgins (high jump) all return for Illinois State and look to defend their titles in their respective events. The Redbird women return nine student-athletes who earned a total of 10 All-MVC honors at last year's MVC Indoor Championship. ISU had one women's relay team (4x400) earn All-Conference honors last year.
The ISU men return four MVC indoor individual champions and an MVC champion DMR team that has all four members returning from a year ago. Jordan Wilkerson (heptathlon), Ryan Ashenbremer (pole vault), Jack Anstey (mile) and Kimathi Johnson (800m) will all look to reclaim their titles from the 2019 Valley Indoor Championships.
The 'Birds have seven returning student-athletes who earned All-MVC honors at last year's indoor championship meet, including the three pole vaulters who swept the event a year ago. The DMR and the 4x400-meter relay both earned All-Valley honors at the 2019 indoor championship meet.
UP NEXT
The Redbirds open the 2019-20 indoor campaign on Friday, December 6 at the EIU Early Bird in Charleston, Illinois, and the GVSU Holiday Open in Allendale, Michigan
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