CHICAGO — The Illinois State track & field squad posted 10 top-five finishers during day one of the Windy City Invitational at the Dr. Conrad Worrill Track and Field Center at Gately Park on Friday.
Mid-Distance/Distance
Three Redbird women placed in the top five in the mile. Sophomore Becca Heitzig placed runner-up with a personal-record time of 4:42.55, moving from ninth to third in program history. Freshman Pauline Schedler also ran a personal-best, placing fourth with a mark of 4:46.29. Senior Mattison Plummer took fifth with a time of 4:47.42. Junior Cayde de Waal earned fifth in the men's mile, crossing the finish line in a season-best time of 4:08.24.
Senior Star Mpama took fifth in the 600m race with a time of 1:34.46, while freshman Temi-Tope Grace Olusesan crossed the finish line in 1:39.23 to place eighth in her Redbird debut. Senior Jake Welch earned fourth in the men's 600m with a time of 1:19.86.
Junior Colleen Zeibert was another top-five finisher for the Redbirds, placing fourth in the 800m with a season-best mark of 2:11.58.
Sophomore Blake Oleson represented the Birds in the men's 5000m, running a personal-record time of 14:39.96 to place eighth.
Sprints/Hurdles
Sophomore Zach Paul took second in the 60m dash, tying his personal record time of 6.66. That mark ranks 49th in the NCAA this season. Nya Browne, Macee Rivers and Erin Starks each finished in the top 16 in the 60m hurdles prelims to qualify for Saturday's finals. Junior Chavi Flowers tied for ninth in the women's 400m with a time of 57.07.
Jumps
Sophomore Heath Hawkins took over 10th in the program record books with a personal-record clearance of 4.97m and a fifth-place finish in the pole vault. On the women's side, the Redbirds had three top 10 finishers. Freshman Brooklyn Kondritz took fifth, senior Isabelle Hemmen earned seventh and junior Joycelyn Crum placed eighth, each with a mark of 3.65m.
Senior Abby Milott took eighth in the long jump with a mark of 5.39m.
Throws
Junior Cole Stevens placed sixth in the weight throw with a season-best launch of 17.91m.
Junior Jacob Kink took sixth in the shot put with a throw of 17.41m, followed by junior Garrett Taylor in eighth with a mark of 16.86m. In the women's shot put, freshman Kiera Fax took ninth with a throw of 13.57m.
Up Next
The Redbirds will finish up the Windy City Invitational tomorrow, with action beginning at 11 a.m.
