NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State track & field team will wrap up the indoor regular season at the Eastern Illinois Friday Night Special on Friday, February 19 at Lantz Fieldhouse. Field events will begin at 11 a.m. with running events following with a 4:30 p.m. start time. No spectators will be allowed.
HOW TO WATCH/FOLLOW ALONG
Live results will be updated here or fans can follow live coverage on Twitter @redbird_trackxc.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Along with Illinois State, five other teams are scheduled to compete at the Friday Night Special, including three other Missouri Valley Conference teams. The Redbirds will get one final tune-up against Bradley before next weekend's conference championships, while also competing against Indiana State and Evansville for the first time this season. ISU will also face competition from Western Illinois of the Summit League and host school Eastern Illinois of the Ohio Valley Conference.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Field Events
11:00 – women's weight throw, men's to follow
11:00 – women's pole vault, men's to follow
11:00 – women's long jump, men's to follow
Triple jump follows long jump – women first, men to follow
11:00 – men's high jump, women's to follow
1:00 – women's shot put, men's to follow
Running Events
4:30 – 60-meter hurdle prelims, men followed by women
4:50 – 60-meter prelims, men followed by women
5:10 – Mile, women followed by men
5:35 – 400-meter, women followed by men
5:55 – 600-meter, women followed by men
6:05 – 60-meter hurdle finals, women followed by men
6:15 – 60-meter finals, women followed by men
6:25 – 800-meter, women followed by men
6:35 – 200-meter, women followed by men
7:05 – women's 3,000-meter
7:20 – men's 3,000-meter
7:30 – women's 4x400-meter relay
7:35 – men's 4x400-meter relay
BEST OF THE BEST
Illinois State is the only team in the Valley to have three student-athletes rank in the NCAA top-30 in individual events.
LAST TIME OUT
Illinois State track & field senior Kameesha Smith jumped to the top of the school record board, breaking a 29-year-old record in the women's high jump at the Grand Valley State University Big Meet last weekend. Clearing a personal-best 1.82 meters (5-11.5 ft.) to win the event, Smith has a Missouri Valley Conference leading mark and is also tied for sixth in the nation in the high jump. Smith's teammate, Grace Daun cleared a personal-best 1.73 meters (5-8 ft.), moving her onto the ISU indoor top-10 list for the first time, tying for the No. 9 spot.
Senior distance runner Kevin Koski took his own stab at a school record in the 5,000-meter run last weekend, coming up just one-second short with a time of 14:00.40. Koski's time is second all-time in school history behind Mike Baker (13:59.24/1982) and leads the Valley by nearly 48 seconds. Currently, the near-record breaking time is the 29th-fastest 5K time in the nation.
The throws squad was led by freshman Mye'Joi Williams at the GVSU Big Meet, winning the shot put with a personal-best mark of 14.95 meters (49-0.75 ft.) to make it onto the ISU indoor top-10 list for the first time in her young career. She ranks No. 10 all-time in school history and No. 3 in the Valley with that throw. Williams also recorded a personal-best mark of 17.53 meters (57-6.25 ft.) in the weight throw.
LAST TIME AT THE EIU FRIDAY NIGHT SPECIAL: FEB. 21, 2020
The Redbirds won nine individual events at last year's EIU Friday Night Special, including five victories in the sprint events.
MVC ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Female Field Athlete: Kameesha Smith, Feb. 17
Female Field Athlete: Kameesha Smith, Feb. 10
Male Field Athlete: Logan Calvin, Feb. 10
Male Track Athlete: Brandon Gage, Jan. 27
Female Field Athlete: Sydney Laufenberg, Jan. 27
USTFCCCA TOP-25 EVENT SQUAD RANKINGS
No. 2 – Women's High Jump
No. 12 – Men's Shot Put
No. 12 – Women's Weight Throw
No. 15 – Women's Shot Put
No. 15 – Men's Weight Throw
No. 21 – Men's Pole Vault
UP NEXT
The Redbirds will go for two conference team titles next weekend at the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships on Feb. 26-28 at the UNI Dome in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
In accordance with state and local guidelines, fans are currently not allowed to be in attendance at home ISU Athletics events. Game dates, opponents, times and locations are subject to change.
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