Illinois State Named 2018-19 MVC Program of the Year

NORMAL, Ill. – Illinois State has been named the 2018-19 Missouri Valley Conference Program of the Year based on their performance in cross country, indoor track & field, and outdoor track & field. The Redbirds take home the Program of the Year honors for the second-consecutive year.

Scoring is based on the team's finish at each Missouri Valley Conference Championship in cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field (i.e. 1st = 1 point, 2nd = 2 points … 10th = 10 points) with the lowest total score for all six championships (3 men's and 3 women's) combined determining the award winner.

Illinois State claimed three first-place titles during the 2018-19 season. Illinois State's women were crowned MVC Champions at both the indoor and outdoor championship. The men's program finished first during the indoor championships and were the runners-up for outdoor. The Redbird men and women finished second and third, respectively, at the 2018 cross country conference championship.

On the final day of the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championshipsthe Redbird men's and women's teams left their mark in the Illinois State record books, sweeping the indoor titles for the second-straight season. After leading both the Illinois State men and women to victory, Director of Track & Field and Cross Country Jeff Bovee was named the MVC Men's and Women's Indoor Coach of the Year for the second-straight season and Ben Montgomery was named the MVC Men's Most Valuable Athlete after scoring the most points among all student-athletes. In total, the Redbirds captured 10 individual championships over the course of the two-day meet.

For the first time since 1983-84, the Illinois State women's track and field team won back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field titles and the Redbird women have now won four-consecutive team titles in the past two years between the indoor and outdoor seasons. In addition to the 11 conference champions who earned All-MVC honors, a total of 31 earned all-league honors at the outdoor championships. 

Following the dominant outdoor campaign, a record total of 17 Illinois State men's and women's track & field student-athletes competed at the 2019 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Preliminary Round in Sacramento, California. Jack Anstey (1500m), Kameesha Smith (high jump) and Sydney Laufenberg (discus) each punched tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championship in Austin, Texas, where Anstey earned first-team All-America honors and Smith and Laufenberg each took home second-team All-America honors.

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