NORMAL, Ill. – Coming off of an impressive performance at the Coughlan-Malloy Cup where they won the meet for the third-straight year, Illinois State track & field is ready to continue building on its success at the Notre Dame Invite on Saturday, Jan. 25 inside the Loftus Indoor Sports Center. Field events will begin at 10 a.m. (ET) with running events following at 12 p.m. (ET).
This is the third-straight year that the Redbirds will compete at the Notre Dame Invite.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Illinois State is one of two teams from the Valley and one of five teams overall competing at the Notre Dame Invite. The Redbirds will compete against conference foe Loyola-Chicago, ACC opponents, Notre Dame and Louisville and Marquette from the Big East.
OFF TO A HOT START
The Redbirds are off to a hot start this 2019-20 indoor season with the men's and women's teams winning a combined 33 events at the first two meets of the indoor campaign. Over the course of those two meets, eight Redbirds have moved up on the indoor top-10 list in their respective events, four meet records have been broken and numerous new personal-bests have been set.
NEWCOMERS ON THE RISE
Of the eight student-athletes who have moved up on the top-10 list, five are new to the team this year. Freshman throwers Joe Boyer and Amiri Buchanan have had strong starts to their freshman seasons with the duo sitting sixth and seventh in the shot put on the top-10 list. Boyer opened the season with a throw of 17.35 meters (56-11.25 ft.) at the EIU Early Bird and Buchanan posted a throw of 17.14 meters (56-03 ft.) at the Redbirds' home meet.
Other newcomers moving up the ISU top-10 ranks are freshmen hurdlers, JT Lowder and Brandon Ratliff. Lowder has moved up the list twice so far this season, posting the ninth-fastest time in the 60-meter hurdles in Redbird track & field history at the EIU Early Bird and then moved up one more spot following a personal-best performance at the Coughlan-Malloy Cup. Lowder's time of 8.27 seconds is currently the eighth-fastest in ISU history.
Ratliff's time of 8.30 seconds set in the 60-meter hurdle prelims at the Coughlan-Malloy Cup moved him into the top-10 list for the first time this season. His time is currently the 10th-fastest in ISU history.
Rounding out the newcomers on the indoor top-10 list is sophomore-transfer Eddie Winner. Winner has the fifth-best clearance in the pole vault in ISU history after clearing 5.06 meters (16-07.25 ft.) inside Horton Field House last weekend. That mark is not only the top in the Valley this year, but also set a new Coughaln-Malloy Cup meet record.
RETURNERS TO WATCH
The returning members of the Redbird track & field team have also gotten out to an impressive start with three athletes who are competing at Notre Dame, moving into the top-10 and three breaking meet records at the Coughlan-Malloy Cup.
Senior Jack Anstey, who has not lost a race yet this indoor season, moved into the top-10 after winning the 3,000-meter run with a time of 8:16.89 at the GVSU Holiday Open. His time is the ninth-fastest in ISU history and the fastest in the Missouri Valley Conference. Anstey, who earned First Team All-America honors in the 1,500m last season, also broke the 600-meter meet record at the Coughlan-Malloy Cup, clocking in at 1:22.36.
Joining Anstey on the top-10 list this season is junior Mya Robinson and senior Tayler Weaver. Robinson opened the season with a personal-best time of 8.65 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles to move up to tied for seventh all-time in the event. Weaver is the most recent Redbird returner to move up the top-10 list after recording a personal-best mark of 18.45 meters (60-06.50 ft.) at the Coughlan-Malloy Cup, ranking her sixth all-time in the weight throw.
The final two Redbirds to break a Coughlan-Malloy Cup meet record were senior Hattie Plumb (600m) and junior Kristin Higgins (high jump). Plumb's record-breaking time of 1:33.95, just missed the Horton Field House facility record of 1:33.85, while Higgins' record-breaking clearance of 1.73 meters (5-08 ft.) was the best clearance at the Coughlan-Malloy Cup since it began in 2005.
Other Redbirds who have posted notable performances so far this season include: sophomore Rachel Hickey (distance), senior Grace Beattie (distance), junior Kevin Koski (distance), senior Ariana Cranston (pole vault) and junior Kai Larson (sprints).
LAST YEAR AT THE NOTRE DAME INVITE
Both the Redbird men and women's teams finished third at last year's Notre Dame Invite. The men finished just 12 points behind Notre Dame and Louisville who tied for first, while the women completed the day with a team score of 94.5. The Redbirds will look to top last year's performances where they saw one school record fall, posted eight individual event wins, recorded 15 ISU all-time top-10 performances and notched 32 personal-bests.
Now-sophomore Rachel Hickey competed in the 1,000-meter run for the first time at last year's Notre Dame Invite and went on to not only break the school record, but also become the only Redbird women to go sub-2:50 in the event, finishing with a time of 2:49.01.
RAKING IN THE AWARDS
Junior Kristin Higgins was named Missouri Valley Conference Field Athlete of the Week this past week for her record-breaking performance in the high jump at the Coughlan-Malloy Cup. Higgins not only broke a meet record that had been standing since 2005, her mark of 1.73 meters (5-08 ft.) put her at No. 1 in the MVC and No. 38 in the nation. She is the only field event athlete to earn athlete of the week honors and joins senior Jack Anstey and sophomore Tori Ortiz as the only three Redbirds to earn the weekly award so far this season. The honor is the first of Higgins' career.
ON THIS DAY IN REDBIRD TRACK & FIELD HISTORY: JAN. 25
On Jan. 25, 1997, Illinois State track & field hosted the Redbird Open inside Horton Field House. The Redbirds recently hosted their first indoor meet in seven years last weekend at the Coughlan-Malloy Cup.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Fans can follow live results here or on Twitter by following @redbird_trackxc.
UP NEXT
Next weekend the 'Birds will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska for the adidas Classic on Saturday, Feb. 1. The meet will kick off at 11:30 a.m. inside the Devaney Center.
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