CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – Illinois State track & field won five conference titles and saw one school record fall on day one of the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships inside the UNI Dome.
The senior trio of Charde Golliday (long jump), Grace Beattie (5,000m) and Ariana Cranston (pole vault) all won individual titles for the women's team, while sophomore Eddie Winner (pole vault) was the lone MVC champion for the men on day one. The women's distance medley relay of Annie Moore, Audrey Harrod, Hattie Plumb and Rachel Hickey added a win for the women to close out the day.
At the final MVC Indoor Championships of their careers, Golliday and Beattie each won their first MVC indoor title. Golliday, who just edged teammate Kameesha Smith for the gold, recorded a personal-best mark of 5.92 meters (19-05.25) and is now tied for fifth all-time in the Illinois State record books. On the track, Beattie finished her first 5K of the season, clocking in three seconds ahead of the second-place runner at 16:50.96.
The duo will be back in action tomorrow with Golliday competing in the triple jump and Beattie racing in the mile final and the 3,000m.
Cranston's win was her second-straight indoor title and fourth-straight pole vault title throughout indoor and outdoor. Clearing 3.93 meters (12-10.75) to win it, Cranston tried three attempts at 4.09 meters for the school record, but just missed it.
After finishing fourth last year in the distance medley relay, the women's DMR was hungry for the win. The DMR team of Moore, Harrod, Plumb and Hickey not only won, but finished with the eighth-best time in ISU history at 11:45.99.
On the men's side, Winner won the first Valley pole vault title of his career after joining the squad in the fall. With a clearance of 5.01 meters (16-05.25), Winner finished with fewer misses to beat teammate, Kellen Kravik, who also cleared 5.01 meters to place second.
Despite falling short of the MVC title, senior Jordyn Bruce broke the pentathlon school record with a lifetime best 3,849 points, placing second overall. Bruce recorded personal bests in the high jump, shot put and long jump in route to a second-place finish in the pentathlon, earning All-Valley honors.
Joining Bruce with individual All-Valley performances on day one were Kameesha Smith (long jump), Tayler Weaver (weight throw), Nicole Bagwell (pole vault), Kellen Kravik (pole vault) and Kevin Koski (5,000m). The men's distance medley relay of Kimathi Johnson, Nick Swartzendruber, Jake Gillum and Jack Anstey also earned all-conference honors with a second-place finish.
Smith, who competed in the long jump for only the second time this year, jumped only twice with a best mark of 5.91 meters (19-04.75) to place second by only .01 meters to her teammate. She will compete in the high jump on day two.
In the throws, Weaver threw over 19 meters for the first time in her career, recording a mark of 19.06 meters (62-06.50) to place third and earn All-Valley honors for the second time in her career. Weaver's mark moves her up one spot from fifth to fourth on the ISU indoor top-10 list.
Bagwell is one of four ISU pole vaulters to earn All-Valley honors, joining Cranston, Winner and Kravik on the podium today. She finished tied for third with a clearance of 3.63 meters (11-10.75).
On the track, Koski earned his first career all-conference honor, placing third in the 5,000m with a time of 14:30.55.
The Redbirds had 10 student-athletes advance to the finals on the women's side in six different events. Sophomore Tori Ortiz leads the way, advancing in all three of her events (60m, 200m, 400m). The men's team had seven student-athletes advance to the finals in their respective events. A full list of athletes who advanced to the finals is below.
At the conclusion of day one, the Illinois State women have 81.16 points, leading the second-place team by over 30 points, while the men trail Northern Iowa by half of a point.
A full day two meet schedule can be found here.
HEPTATHLON STANDINGS THROUGH 4 EVENTS
1st – Caleb Miedema, 3,091 points
2nd – Jordan Wilkerson, 3,088 points
8th – JT Lowder, 2,600 points
9th – Brian Brown, 2,486 points
13th – Nick Klecki, 1,818 points
FINALS QUALIFIERS
Mya Robinson, 60mH, 8.48, T-No. 3 ISU history, personal-best
Jordyn Bruce, 60mH, 8.83
Brandon Ratliff, 60mH, 8.16, No. 6 ISU history, personal-best
Jaden Johnson, 60mH, 8.22, No. 10 ISU history, personal-best
Kelsie Prear, 60m, 7.67
Tori Ortiz, 60m, 7.70
Tori Ortiz, 200m, 25.06
Tori Ortiz, 400m, 56.60
Kai Larson, 400m, 49.59
Destiny White, 400m, 57.69
Whitney Ward, 400m, 57.76
Hattie Plumb, 800m, 2:14.96
Maddi Exline, 800m, 2:15.66
Audrey Harrod, 800m, 2:16.27
Jack Anstey, 800m, 1:53.29
Riley Wells, 800m, 1:54.76
Grace Beattie, Mile, 5:03.53
Annie Moore, Mile, 5:03.55
Rachel Hickey, Mile, 5:08.00
Jake Gillum, Mile, 4:20.27
Kimathi Johnson, Mile, 4:30.40
Fans can watch both days of the MVC Indoor Track & Field Championships on ESPN3, follow live results at here or get live updates on Twitter by following @redbird_trackxc.
For all the latest news on Redbird track & field and cross country, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Scholarship Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
