NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State track & field program will split for its 2021 outdoor season debut this weekend with the majority of the team traveling to Oxford, Mississippi for the Ole Miss Classic on March 26-27 and a smaller group of distance runners traveling to St. Louis, Missouri for the Billiken Invite on Friday, March 26.
The 'Birds will be making their long-waited return to outdoor competition for the first time in 657 days. ISU has not had an outdoor meet since Jack Anstey, Kameesha Smith and Sydney Laufenberg competed at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships from June 5-8, 2019. Illinois State will compete at the Ole Miss Classic for the second-straight season and will make their first appearance at the Billiken Invite.
ISU will have three men (Lucas Capistrant, Ryan Kennedy and TJ Stevenson) and five women (Kylie Hagmann, Kendy Ummel, Paige Arseneau, Natalie Sparreo and Ashley Heagy) race in the 1,500m at the Billiken Invite. Heagy will also race the women's 800-meter run. Women's races will be followed by men's with all running events beginning at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 26. The 1,500m is the third running event of the day, while the 800m is the eighth. A full schedule of events for the Billiken Invite can be found here.
The hammer throw will be the only event on Friday, March 26 at the Ole Miss Classic with the men's hammer throw beginning at 3 p.m. followed by the women's hammer throw. On Saturday, March 27, the field events will begin at 9 a.m. with running events beginning at 1 p.m. A full schedule of events for the Ole Miss Classic can be found here.
HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow live results here for the Billiken Invite or on Twitter @redbird_trackxc. As soon as a live results link is made available for the Ole Miss Classic, it will be updated on goredbirds.com and the Illinois State track & field social media accounts.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
Illinois State is one of eight teams set to compete at the Ole Miss Classic. ISU's competition down in Oxford includes Western Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, host Ole Miss, Memphis, Southeast Missouri State and Missouri Valley Conference opponents, Indiana State and Southern Illinois. At the Billiken Invitational, the Redbirds will face competitors from Eastern Illinois, Mineral Area College, SIU Edwardsville, Saint Louis and Valley opponent, Bradley.
SUPER SENIORS
With the COVID-19 pandemic taking away what they thought would be their final outdoor season, the Redbirds return eight seniors with only outdoor eligibility, including six that have qualified for the NCAA West Prelims at least once in their career. The 'Birds return distance/middle-distance runners Jack Anstey, Kimathi Johnson and Grace Beattie, pole vaulter Kellen Kravik, jumper Charde Golliday, heptathlete/hurdler Jordyn Bruce, hurdler/sprinter Whitney Ward and thrower Tayler Weaver.
LAST TIME AT THE OLE MISS CLASSIC
Sydney Laufenberg broke a 21-year-old discus school record to highlight the Redbirds' performances at the 2019 Ole Miss Classic. The then-junior broke Angie Joy's previous school record of 55.17m (181-0 ft.) from 1998 by more than a meter ultimately winning the competition and breaking the school record with a throw of 56.99m (187-0 ft.).
BUILDING ON INDOOR/CROSS COUNTRY SUCCESS
Coming off of stellar indoor and cross country seasons winning two Missouri Valley Conference team titles, the Redbirds will look to build on that success during the outdoor season with goals to win two more MVC team titles and qualify multiple student-athletes to the NCAA West Prelims and the NCAA Outdoor Championships. During the simultaneous indoor track & field and cross country seasons this year, the Redbirds had seven MVC individual indoor champions, 23 indoor All-Valley performances, one MVC cross country individual champion and seven cross country All-Valley performers. Additionally, ISU returns 11 NCAA West Prelims qualifiers from 2019 and four student-athletes who have qualified for either the NCAA Indoor, Outdoor or Cross Country Championships.
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