TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Speed and strength were on full display for Illinois State track & field on Saturday as the Redbirds wrapped up their time at the Gibson Invitational, hosted by Indiana State University, as well as completed their time out West at the Bryan Clay Invitational at Azusa Pacific University.
'BIRDS FLY AT GIBSON INVITATIONAL
ISU's speed would be at full force on the track as both the men's and women's 4x100m relay squads would finish the event with a pair of top-10 program times.
First, the squad of Hassy Fashina-Bombata, Lindsey Miller, Arianna Walker, and Bri Buggs would capture the event win with a time of 45.13, the second fastest time in program history.
Then, it was the men's turn as ISU's Michael Gorman, Enyinnaya Nwagwu Jr., Sean Hopkins, and Devin Turner turned in a fourth-place finish with a time of 40.76, which stands as the ninth fastest event time in program history.
Later in the day, it was Hassy Fashina-Bombata making individual waves as she ran 23.50 in the women's 200m to win the event and set the second fastest event time in program history in the process.
Teammate Bri Buggs would finish second in the event with her time of 24.03. Mattie Lieb would gather a seventh-place finish with a finals time of 24.96 and Madison Saunders would be in the top 10 with a ninth-place finish time of 25.00.
Mye'Joi Williams would pick up the event win in the women's shot with her mark of 15.39m (50-06.00).
Shortly after, Taylor Kesner won the women's discus with a mark of 51.22m. Kesner would also pick up a win in the women's javelin with a mark of 45.97m.Â
Back on the track, in the women's 400m hurdles, it was Kayla Perry setting a new personal best time of 1:00.79 to finish second overall and remain with the seventh-fastest event time in program history.
In the first event on the final day, the women's 100m, both Madison Saunders and Melissa Parrella would advance to the event finals later in the day. Both athletes would submit personal best times, as Saunders ran a prelim time of 12.05 while Parrella finished in a time of 12.09.
In the event finals, Saunders would gather fourth place with a time of 11.94 while Parrella came in ninth with her time of 12.47.
Parrella would also make an impact in the women's long jump, finishing with a mark of 5.86m (19-02.75), the ninth-highest event mark in program history and an ISU best for her.
Only a few events later, another Redbird submitted themselves into the event finals as Emelia Ness ran a PR time of 14.21 in the women's 100m hurdles. However, the sophomore would not be done as in the event finals later in the day, she collected a top-five finish after setting a new personal best time of 14.14.
The Redbird momentum kept on going in the men's 110m hurdles, as a trio of athletes would qualify for the event finals led by Brandon Ratliff's prelims winning time of 14.06.
Joining Ratliff in the event finals would be Jaden Johnson, who ran a time of 14.31, and Dewayne Johnson who finished in a time of 14.43.
In the event finals, Ratliff captured second place with a finals time of 14.34 while Jaden Johnson came in right behind, finishing third with a time 14.52. Finally, Dewayne Johnson finished seventh with a finals time of 16.44.
The men's shot put saw Amiri Buchanan finish second overall with a final mark of 17.64m (57-10.50). Joe Boyer would finish fifth in the event with a mark of 17.02m (55-10.25) while the final top-10 finisher for the 'Birds in the event was Jake Borman with his mark of 15.60m (51-02.25) to finish ninth.
The women's pole vault saw a top-10 finish from Reece Davis, who would finish eighth with her mark of 3.45m (11-03.75).
In the men's 400m hurdles, Jaylin Holmes ran to a third-place finish in a time of 53.54.
To conclude the event, the men's 4x400m relay team of Junias Holmes Jr., Edward Watkins, Michael Marrs, and Nick Swartzendruber would finish third in the event with a time of 3:16.19.
BRYAN CLAY INVITATIONAL
As part of the final night of competition from Azusa Pacific University, the Redbirds saw eight athletes compete in various heats of the men's and women's 1500m. After all was said and done, the highlight of the evening came from senior Rachel Hickey, who would run a personal best time of 4:20.81, which keeps Hickey in possession of the second fastest event time in program history. Her time also gives Hickey the second fastest event time in the MVC this season. Â
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