OXFORD, Miss. - The Illinois State track & field squads had three personal best in a light first day at the Joe Walker Invite, hosted by Ole Miss.
Joe Walker Invite
On the men's side freshman Ryan Schaefer leads the decathlon after day one with 3,487 total points as junior Cade Ward sits in third with 3,169 total points. In the 200m dash, sophomore Enyinnaya Nwagwu placed second with a time of 21.34 seconds, while junior Micheal Marrs ran a season-best time of 21.88 seconds as he finished 14th, and senior Brandon Ratliff took 32nd with a time of 22.99 seconds.
Sophomore Garrett Slack ran a personal-best time in the 800m run with 1:51.24 as he finished third. In the 1,500m, while Yusuf Baig crossed the finish line in 11th with a personal-best time of 3:51.22. Senior Tyler Polak finshed fourth in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 9:26.59. In the hammer throw, senior Amiri Buchanan placed third with a throw of 57.44m (188-05), as senior Payton Taylor took 15th with a toss of 49.95m (163-10).
On the women's side senior Kiley Sanders sits in ninth in the heptathlon with 2,666 total points. Sophomore Gracie Jessup sits behind in tenth with 2,657 total points, as Caleigh O'Flaherty rounds out the Redbird in the multis with 2,557 points as she currently sits in 12th.
Sophomore Maggie Reed ran a personal-best time of 11:12.73 in the 3,000m steeplechase as she finished fifth. In the hammer throw, senior Morgan Wrublik took 14th with a toss of 50.35m (165-02). In the long jump, senior Brittney Oakley finished sixth with a leap of 5.52m (18-1.50), as junior Atleigh Hamilton placed seventh with a season-best leap of 5.49m (18-.25). Sophomore Abby Milott took 10th with a leap of 5.35m (17-6.75). Freshman Ava Lawless placed 13th with her season's-best leap of 5.24m (17-2.25).
The Redbirds had four runners competing in the 200m dash, led by Hassy Fashina-Bombata who ran to a time of 24.44 seconds, placing fourth. Sophomore Lindsey Miller (sixth, 24.52 seconds), sophomore Nnenna Okpara (ninth, 24.64 seconds), and senior Mattie Lieb (24th, 25.78 seconds) also competed for ISU.
Up Next
The second of the Joe Walker Invite continues competition at 10 AM with the rest of the decathlon and heptathlon.
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