DES MOINES, Iowa – Illinois State Track & Field completed day one of competition at the 2022 MVC Outdoor Championships, as two Redbirds were crowned champions and four others earned All-Valley honors.
Sophomore Ailey Mitchell closed night one out on a high note, as she won the women's 10,000m run in a time of 36:09.89. After finishing sixth a year ago, Mitchell was crowned an MVC champion for the first time in her young career. She is also the first female student-athlete from Illinois State to win the 10,000m since 2002, when Stacia Beste won the event.
In his first season with the Redbirds, sophomore Ariel Atias won the men's javelin with a throw of 63.10m (207-0), just shy of his personal best. Atias is now a two-time MVC champion, as he won the heptathlon at the MVC Indoor Championships earlier this season. Atias is also the first Redbird to win the javelin since 2013.
ALL-VALLEY
Completing the 1-2 finish for the Redbirds in the women's 10,000m was junior Caroline Meyers. Meyers finished second in the race with a time of 36:13.83 to earn All-MVC honors for the first time in her Redbird career.
In the men's pole vault, Max Schweitzer finished as the top Redbird in the event, as he cleared 4.80m (15-9) to finish second overall. Schweitzer has now garnered All-Valley honors in both the 2021-22 indoor and outdoor campaigns. Senior Sam Peschke followed Schweitzer's performance with a clearance of 4.60m (15-1) to finish third.
Freshman Windsor Roberts made her MVC conference meet debut, as she earned All-MVC honors in the women's pole vault clearing 3.80m (12-5.50) to finish third.
MOVING ON IN THE FINALS
Three Redbirds punched their ticket to the 200m dash final, led by freshman Arianna Walker. Walker clocked an outdoor personal best of 23.91 in the preliminary round to win her heat and finish second overall. Walker now ranks fifth in school history in the event. Junior Bri Buggs clocked the third-fastest prelim time at 24.33 to also advance to Sunday's final.
Freshman Devin Turner was the lone 'Bird to advance in the men's 200m dash, as he ran a qualifying time of 21.55 to set a wind-legal personal best.
All three Illinois State women advanced in the women's 1500m opening round, led by redshirt sophomore Rachel Hickey who ran the fastest prelim time at 4:33.48. Junior Maddi Exline and freshman Lucie Grandjean also punched their ticket with times of 4:40.59 and 4:40.84, respectively.
Senior Jake Gillum also advanced the men's 1500m run final, as he ran the sixth-fastest prelim time at 3:57.94.
MULTIS UPDATE
Through five events in the decathlon, Ariel Atias sits in second with 3813 points, after setting a personal best in the 400m dash at 52.20 and an outdoor personal best in the shot put at 14.46 (47-5.25). Junior Caleb Miedema sits in fourth with 3715 points.
Zofia LeHew leads the Redbirds in the heptathlon, as she currently sits in eighth with a score of 2558 points. LeHew set a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 11.54m (37-10.5).
OTHER MVC POINT SCORERS
4th – Zofia LeHew, javelin, 44.44m (139-3)
4th – Evan Pickard, pole vault, 4.60m (15-1)
4th – Zach Fiser, javelin, 55.17m (181-0)
4th – Tyler Klouda, 10,000m, 30:20.19
5th – Logan Calvin, hammer throw – 59.68m (195-9)
5th – Amni Austin, pole vault, 3.90m (12-5.50)
6th – Taylor Kesner, javelin, 40.04m (131-4)
7th – Josh Schmid, javelin, 51.20m (168-0)
7th – Ali Cranston, pole vault, 3.60m (11-9.75)
8th – Maddie Wright, pole vault, 4.60m (11-9.75)
TEAM STANDINGS
Through four events scored, the Redbird men and women both sit in first place. The men's side totaled 45 points, while the women totaled 39.
QUOTES
Director of Track & Field/Cross Country, Jeff Bovee
On the 10,000m performance:
"Phenomenal finish for the 'Birds tonight in the 10,000m with a 1-2 historic finish for the women. Congratulations to Ailey, Caroline and Coach Stults on a great race. They had a perfect strategy with a negative split, taking it out conservatively in very humid conditions. One by one, the field just fell off pace. It was left to them to sort through it on the last lap. Really proud of them. Klouda also had a really great race on the men's side. It was a big breakthrough from him to get into the top-4. He ran a very similar race plan and just weaved his way in and out of other runners in the last couple miles."
On the Ariel's performance:
"Ariel came up with a big win in the javelin. He had a great day between that and the decathlon, setting himself up for a win in that event. He's quite a few points ahead of where he was when he competed earlier in the season. He's off to a good start. Caleb also had a strong day as well. Chase looked really good for himself. Hopefully he can put himself into scoring position."
On the rest of team's performance:
"Really great job by the vault crew today with the 2-3-4 finish on the men's side. In the women's vault, Windsor had a great performance coming in top-3 in her first MVC meet."
"Overall, the javelin was really strong. The women's side is still in question right now with a protest being filed. We're not sure if Rebecca's mark will hold up or not. Taylor, being a freshman and scoring was impressive. On the men's side, getting three guys to score was really big for us."
"In the qualifying rounds, we got everybody through in the 1500m. We got two through in the women's 200m, which was really big. Buggs with the third-fastest time of the day was really strong. Devin ran his best race of the year to qualify."
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.
