SOUTH BEND, Ind. – After a successful first day where three Redbirds recorded personal-bests, Illinois State track & field built on that momentum and had five more student-athletes make improvements on their times on day two of the Meyo Invite at the University of Notre Dame's Loftus Indoor Sports Center.
Sophomore Tori Ortiz and senior Hattie Plumb were the only two Redbirds to double up on individual events this weekend and both set new personal bests for the second time this weekend.
Ortiz, who competed in the 200m on day one, cut over a second off her previous best time in the 400-meter dash to finish 12th overall with a time of 56.06 seconds. Following her PR in the 400m, she helped the 4x400-meter relay to its best time of the season (3:48.60) as the lead off runner. With her performances this weekend, Ortiz holds onto the No. 1 400m time in the Valley and the No. 5 spot in the 200m.
Competing in the 600m/800m double this weekend, Plumb inched her way closer to the school records in both events. Plumb's time of 2:08.15 is not only an indoor personal-best, but also sits No. 1 in the Valley by nearly two seconds.
Joining Ortiz and Plumb with personal-best times on day two were distance runners Kevin Koski (junior) and Rachel Hickey (sophomore).
Koski recorded the largest PR of the weekend for the Redbirds, shaving 10 seconds off of his previous best 3,000-meter run time. His time of 8:17.48 sits just outside of the ISU indoor top-10 list, earning him second in the event. Currently, Koski has the No. 2 3K time in the Valley behind teammate Jack Anstey.
For the second-straight year, Hickey set a new personal-best time in the mile at the Meyo Invitational. Clocking in at 4:52.01, the Peru, Illinois native, now has the No. 1 time in the Valley.
Rounding out the personal-best performances was redshirt-freshman Harrison Porter. Porter clocked in at a personal-best time of 1:53.43 in the 800m to finish second in his heat. His time is currently the fourth-fastest in the Valley.
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
Jack Anstey, Meyo Mile, 4:05.05, No. 1 in the Valley
Grace Beattie, 3,000m, 9:43.46, No. 1 in the Valley
Whitney Ward, 400m, 57.58, No. 7 in the Valley
Ortiz, Hickey, Ward, Destiny White, Women's 4x400-meter relay, 3:48.60, No. 1 in the Valley
QUOTES FROM DIRECTOR OF TRACK & FIELD/CROSS COUNTRY, JEFF BOVEE
On Hattie Plumb's 800m performance:
"Her season debut in the 800m is an indoor best and sits No. 38 in the country. That was a really great start and I'm really happy to see her bounce back after a difficult race last night. I think she really took it to heart to come back and try a different race strategy and putting herself right up there in the front which is something that I've never seen her do before. She's normally aggressive, but I thought today she was more aggressive than she's ever been."
On Kevin Koski's 3,000m performance:
"I'm really, really pleased for Kevin (Koski). He's been putting in the work now for four years and he's really starting to see the benefit of all of that time training and doing all of the little things. He's sitting second in the Valley (in the 3K) and first in the 5K. Next week we're looking for an improvement in the 5K being a longer distance guy the speed he's shown in the mile and the 3K these last few weeks is really going to bode well in the 5K and the 10K once we get outdoor."
On Tori Ortiz's competitiveness:
"Tori (Ortiz) is a competitor. She really thrives off of having to chase people and she's really consistent. When the competition gets more challenging, she steps it up. It's really fun to watch her compete."
On the full team coming back together next weekend at Iowa State:
"After a long trip to Nebraska last weekend I think it's important that we gave some people some time to regroup. I definitely think everyone is going to be hungry to compete next week. With only being two weeks out from the Valley, it's really going to be a critical meet to see where we're at. We're also going to see a couple other Valley schools next week and probably learn a lot more about ourselves. With so many off this week, I'm really interested to see how they all come back and see how fired up they are."
On Jack Anstey's performance in the Meyo Mile:
"Jack being third, we really just wanted to focus on racing this weekend. Running a 56 second last 400 closed well. He got a little jammed up mid race and wasn't able to get out as early as we would have liked, but nonetheless gave himself a chance at winning that thing and competed well in a really close race. He looks ready to make a run at some great racing these next few weeks. I was really pleased with his race too."
UP NEXT
The full Illinois State track & field squad is back in action next weekend at the Iowa State Classic. The two-day meet will run Friday, Feb. 14 and Saturday, Feb. 15 at the Lied Recreation Athletic Center. Fans can watch the meet via FloTrack ($) or follow live results here.
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