Redbirds to Compete for Conference Title at MVC Indoor Championships

THIS WEEK
The Illinois State track & field squads will compete for a conference title at the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Championships on March 1-2 at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in Indianapolis. Action begins at 8:45 a.m. CT on Sunday and 9:30 a.m. CT on Monday.

PRE-CHAMPIONSHIP POLL
The MVC released its pre-championship coaches' poll Tuesday, and both Illinois State track and field teams earned top-three projections.The Illinois State women were picked to finish second with 106 total votes and one first-place vote, while the Redbird men were selected to finish third with 87 total votes and one first-place vote. The men's last indoor title came in 2019, while the women's squad won more recently in 2023. Both squads feature a couple of the conference's top individual performers heading into the championship meet:

• Becca Heitzig owns the fastest MVC time this season in the 800m
• The men's 4x400m relay team leads the MVC by more than four seconds, and Seth Nelson has the top pole vault mark at 5.30m.

USTFCCCA #EVENTSQUAD RANKINGS
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association released its fifth checkpoint of #EventSquad rankings for the 2025-26 indoor season on Feb. 24, and multiple Redbird event groups were featured among the nation's best.

• The ISU men's shot put group, with freshmen Zach Cowper and Jo Atkins and juniors Jacob Klink and Garrett Taylor, is ranked fifth in the nation (69.88m, 17.47m avg).
• The ISU men's high jump group comprised of freshman Voldy Makabu, senior Rob Pulliam, junior Kaden Stewart and sophomore Trey Thomas is rated 10th in the country (8.29m, 2.07m avg).
• The ISU men's 60m dash group with Zach Paul, Reece Curtis, Jaiden Reed and Enyinnaya Nwagwu is ranked 23rd (26.97, 6.74 avg).
• The ISU women's 60m hurdles group, including seniors Macee Rivers and Erin Starks and juniors Nya Browne and Cambria Geyer, is ranked 15th nationally (33.66, 8.41 avg).

UPDATING THE ALL-TIME LISTS 
Several Redbirds either etched their names into the program record books or moved up in the top 10 lists for their performances at the Illini Last Chance meet, the GVSU Big Meet and the Blue Demon Alumni Classic.

• At the final regular meet of the season, senior Isabelle Hemmen and Joycelyn Crum cleared 3.85m in the pole vault to move into a tie for seventh-place in program history.
• Macee Rivers moved up to second in the women's 60m hurdles with a time of 8.30, while Nya Browne jumped to third with a mark of 8.32. 
• Becca Heitzig improved her second place time in the 800m with a mark 2:06.93, which leads the MVC.
• Mattison Plummer moved from seventh to fourth in the women's 3000m with a personal-record time of 9:27.60.
• Julian Baker moved into sixth in program history in the men's 5000m with a winning time of  14:08.09 at the GVSU Big Meet.