NORMAL, Ill. – The Illinois State track & field program will conclude the regular season at Indiana State's Pacesetter Sports Invite on Friday, May 7 at the Gibson Track & Field Complex. Men's and women's javelin will kick off the field events at 12:30 p.m. EST followed by the 100-meter dash prelims at 1:30 p.m. EST.
Indiana State is only allowing Sycamore fans on a pass list to attend the meet due to senior day festivities occurring. Illinois State fans can follow live results here or on Twitter @redbird_trackxc.
SCOUTING THE COMPETITION
In addition to Indiana State, Illinois State will face competition from 19 different teams. The 'Birds will get to compete against four Valley opponents ahead of next weekend's Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor Track & Field Championships, including Loyola-Chicago, Evansville, Indiana State and Valparaiso.
REDBIRDS IN THE NCAA WEST REGION TOP-48
To qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary Round this year, you must rank among the best 48 student-athletes in your respective event in the West Region. Currently, 12 Redbirds qualify, led by senior Grace Beattie and redshirt-junior Logan Calvin who each have top-48 marks in two different events. Beattie has qualifying times in both the 3,000-meter steeplechase and the 5,000-meter run, while Calvin has qualifying marks in both the shot put and the discus. Below is a full list of ISU student-athletes that currently qualify for the NCAA West Prelims in College Station, Texas on May 26-29:
11. Jack Anstey, 1,500m
14. Grace Beattie, 3,000m steeplechase
14. Logan Calvin, shot put
18. Sydney Laufenberg, discus
20. Tayler Weaver, shot put
22. Mye'Joi Williams, shot put
24. Grace Daun, high jump
25. Brandon Ratliff, 110mH
25. Jordyn Bruce, 400mH
26. Julia Bourke, hammer throw
28. Kellen Kravik, pole vault
36. Kristin Higgins, high jump
38. Grace Beattie, 5,000m
45. Logan Calvin, hammer throw
ON THE BUBBLE
The following seven student-athletes and relay team sit just outside the top-48 and will look to move up into regional qualifying position over the next two weeks. While individuals must be in the top-48 to qualify for regionals, relay teams must be among the top-24 in their region to advance to NCAA Preliminary Round.
31. Women's 4x400-meter relay (Destiny White, Audrey Harrod, Whitney Ward, Jaclyn Greci)
53. Seven Hicks, 100m
53. Whitney Ward, 400mH
54. Riley Wells, 800m
56. Jaclyn Greci, 400m
57. Macy Byer, discus
58. Amiri Buchanan, shot put
60. Kimathi Johnson, 800m
LAST TIME OUT
The Redbirds swept the competition at the ISU Invite last weekend with the women winning with 283.5 points and the men taking first with 178 points. In route to the team victories, 13 student-athletes posted a top-10 performance in school history.
Grace Beattie (1,500m), Jordyn Bruce (400mH) and Logan Calvin (shot put) all highlighted the weekend with the trio each recording the No. 2 performance in Illinois State track & field history in their respective events. On the track, Beattie broke her third facility record and ran her third individual No. 2 time in ISU history this season, winning the 1,500-meter run with a personal-best time of 4:23.32. Bruce, who has been chasing a regional qualifying time since the start of the season, clocked her first sub-one-minute time of 59.09 seconds to take second in the 400-meter hurdles and run the 25th-fastest time in the NCAA West Region. Continuing to improve his No. 2 mark in school history nearly every week, Calvin surpassed 19 meters for the first time in his career, placing second with a mark of 19.13 meters (62-9.25 ft.).
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