CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Illinois State track & field completed the sweep of the multi events this weekend after sophomore Caleb Miedema scored a personal-best 5,007 points to take the heptathlon title at the Jack Jennett Open.
" These last coupe of days were a strong start for the men's and women's combined events groups this week," said Assistant Coach (Multis/High Jump), Daniel Gooris. "Jordyn Bruce had a huge PR for the win in the pentathlon yesterday and still has a lot left in the tank so that's really exciting moving forward and looking toward the conference championships. Caleb Miedema on the men's side had an overall PR as well as a lot of event PR's to take home the win. All around we had some really good performances this week."
The heptathlon is split into two days with four events on the first day and the final three events occurring on day two. At the conclusion of day one, Miedema led all competitors with 2,972 points and never relinquished his lead on day two.
Miedema won three of the seven events, including the shot put, high jump and pole vault in route to his heptathlon win. His 5,007 points rank him No. 15 in the nation and fourth all-time on the ISU top-10 list. He is just 201 points away from breaking the school record.
A BREAKDOWN OF THE WIN
60-meter dash: 7.33 seconds, 6th, 769 points
Long Jump: 6.69 meters, 2nd, 741 points
Shot Put: 12.86 meters, 1st, 659 points
High Jump: 2.00 meters, 1st, 803 points
60-meter hurdles: 8.90 seconds, 4th, 768 points
Pole Vault: 4.15 meters, 1st, 659 points
1,000m: 3:05.89, 4th, 608 points
TOTAL: 5,007 points
Freshman JT Lowder had the second-most points for the Redbirds and placed third overall in the first heptathlon of his collegiate career. At the conclusion of day one, Lowder sat in sixth place, but by the end of day two, he jumped up three spots to third after finishing in the top-four in the final three events.
Lowder's top performances came in the 60-meter hurdles, 60-meter dash and the 1,000-meter run where he placed first, second and third, respectively. He started off day two with a victory in the hurdles, improving on his time for the third-straight meet with personal-best time of 8.22 seconds. With 4,570 points, he moves into seventh all-time on the ISU top-10 list.
Senior Jordan Wilkerson (4,151 points) and freshman Brian Brown (4,043 points) finished sixth and seventh overall at the first multi-event competition of the year.
UP NEXT
The rest of the Redbird track & field team will be in action on Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Notre Dame Invite. Field events kick off the day at 10 a.m. (ET) inside the Loftus Indoor Sports Center.
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