NORMAL, Ill. — Illinois State track and field celebrated its 13 seniors and closed out the first-annual Joyce Morton-Kief Invite on Saturday afternoon at the Redbird Track & Field Complex.
The Redbirds earned 12 event titles as both the men's and women's squads won the team race with 219 and 128 points.
Seth Nelson kept his winning streak alive from the indoor season, taking home the men's pole vault title and breaking the school record with a clearance of 5.28m. Heath Hawkins finished runner-up with a mark of 4.83m.
Garrett Taylor started the day off strong, winning the men's discus event with a personal-best throw of 56.57m to move into fourth in school history.
Adison Scott took bronze, and Brianna Brodie earned fourth in the women's discus.
Four Redbirds placed in the top five in the men's shot put. Taylor led the pack in second place, followed by Jo Atkins, Jacob Klink and Zach Cowper. Kiera Fax came out on top in the women's shot put with a mark of 13.47m.
Isabelle Hemmen posted a personal-best in the pole vault, clearing 3.93m to earn gold and jump to fifth in the ISU record books.
Abby Milott won the women's long jump with a personal-best outdoor mark of 5.71m before finishing fourth in the triple jump. Laney Nelson finished fourth in the long jump with a mark of 5.43m, and Ava Lawless took ninth in the same event with a leap of 5.18m.
On the men's side, Brody Rigdon took home gold with a long jump of 7.09m. Victor Byaundaombe and Rex Hallam followed in second and third place.
Voldy Makabu won the high jump with a mark of 2.05m and the triple jump with a leap of 14.94m. Jamarion Bardwell finished runner-up in both events, tying his personal best with a long jump of 2.00m. Kaden Stewart rounded out the top three of the long jump and took bronze.
Four Redbirds placed in the top five in men's 400m, Zach Paul won the event with a personal-best time of 47.18. Jake Welch earned runner up, Evan Watson took third and Reece Curtis rounded out the Redbird finishers in fifth.
The Redbird women won the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:59.54, as Becca Heitzig, Pauline Schedler, Brooke Zeibert and Colleen Zeibert downed the rest of the field by over 20 seconds.
The men finished third in the men's 4x400m relay with a mark of 3:25.90.
Heitzig won the women's 800m race and moved into eighth in school history with a time of 2:07.77. Schedler ran a personal-best time of 2:09.30 to earn silver
The Redbirds swept the top four spots of the men's 800m, with Julian Baker taking home gold with a time of 1:52.35. Cayde de Waal finished runner up, followed by Logan Scott and Garrett Slack.
Brooke Zeibert led the Redbirds in the 1500m race, winning gold with a time of 4:35.29. Grace Erb and Colleen Zeibert followed in fourth and fifth. On the men's side, Kane Shields took home the event title with a mark of 3:57.17, followed by Quinn Davis in third.
WASH U DISTANCE FESTIVAL
Select Redbirds traveled to St. Louis, Mo., for the Wash U Distance Carnival on Thursday and Friday.
Mattison Plummer earned fourth out of 172 finishers in the 5000m race with a personal-best time of 16:34.42, moving her into fifth all-time in program history.
Astrid Van Breedam posted a personal-best time of 17:13.34 to take 26th, while Maggie Reed followed in 29th. Viviana Sanfilippo finished in 45th with a personal-record mark of 17:32.79, and Cameron Crump rounded out the Redbird entries in 66th with a personal-best time of 17:53.74.
Will Gelon and Luke Barham represented the Redbirds in the 3000m steeplechase, crossing the finish line in 29th and 40th place. Blake Oleson took 26th in the 10,000m race with a personal-best time of 30.39.96.
UP NEXT
The Redbirds head to Gainesville, Fla., for the Pepsi Florida Relays on the Percy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium on April 3-4.
For the latest updates on Illinois State Track & Field, stay tuned at GoRedbirds.com, follow the Redbirds on X (@RedbirdTFXC) and Instagram (isuredbirdtfxc) and like the team on Facebook (Illinois State Track & Field/Cross Country).
GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App: Your sources for Illinois State tickets, Weisbecker Athletic Fund gifts, multimedia, Redbird merchandise, photos and more.
