NORMAL, Ill. – The complete Illinois State track & field squad is back in action this weekend at the Iowa State Classic on Friday, Feb. 14 and Saturday, Feb. 15. The two-day meet will kick off at noon on Friday inside the Lied Recreation Center.
ON TOP OF THE VALLEY
The men's and women's Illinois State teams hold the top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference in a combined 13 events. The Redbirds 13 leading times/marks best the next closest team by seven events.
Valley Leaders
Tori Ortiz, 400m, 56.06
Hattie Plumb, 800m, 2:08.15
Jack Anstey, Mile, 4:05.05
Rachel Hickey, Mile, 4:52.01
Jack Anstey, 3,000m, 8:16.89
Grace Beattie, 3,000m, 9:43.46
Kevin Koski, 5,000m, 14:26.62
Mya Robinson, 60mH, 8.57
Women's 4x400-meter relay, 3:48.60
Kameesha Smith, high jump, 1.77m (5-09.75)
Eddie Winner, pole vault, 5.15m (16-10.75)
Jordyn Bruce, pentathlon, 3,660 points
Caleb Miedema, heptathlon, 5,031 points
LAST YEAR AT THE IOWA STATE CLASSIC
Jack Anstey accomplished a feat that had only been done by one other Redbird in Illinois State track & field history: run a sub-four-minute mile. Anstey's time of 3:59.66 ran just over a year ago at this very meet, fell just short of breaking 2002 NCAA mile champion, Christian Goy's school record. This week Anstey looks to break Goy's school record and run the second sub-four-minute of his career.
RAKING IN THE AWARDS
Over the last four weeks the Redbirds have seen five student-athletes earn MVC Athlete of the Week honors and seven throughout the entire indoor season. Most recently, sophomore Eddie Winner earned the first honor of his career after an impressive performance in the pole vault at the Meyo Invite. The week prior, senior Grace Beattie earned her fourth career Valley weekly award with a victory in the mile, leading from start to finish at the adidas Classic. Juniors Kameesha Smith and Kristin Higgins (high jump) and sophomore Caleb Miedema (multis) join Winner in earning MVC Field Athlete of the Week honors so far this season. Senior Jack Anstey and sophomore Tori Ortiz opened the season with a sweep of the MVC Track Athlete of the Week awards in week one.
HOW TO FOLLOW
The meet will be broadcast on FloTrack for fans with a paid subscription or can be followed via live results here. Live updates will also be posted on the @redbird_trackxc Twitter account.
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