Redbirds Head to California, Indiana

THIS WEEK

The Illinois State track and field squad splits up this week, as 12 athletes head to Asuza, Calif., for the Bryan Clay Invitational, and the rest of the team travels to Terre Haute, Ind., for the Gibson Invitational from April 16-18.

THE FIELD

Over 30 teams will compete at the Gibson Invitational, including Indiana, Northwestern and Notre Dame, along with fellow Missouri Valley Conference schools in Evansville, UIC, Valparaiso, Southern Illinois, Murray State and host Indiana State.

As for the Bryan Clay Invitational, over 4,000 athletes from 400-plus universities will be represented.

LAST TIME OUT

Illinois State delivered a strong all-around performance at the Illini Deca-Jam last Saturday, highlighted by seven event victories.

• Macee Rivers captured the women's 100m hurdles title with a time of 13.67.

• Kristyn Johnson sprinted to a first-place finish in the 100m dash with a time of 11.82.

• The Redbirds swept the top four spots in the women's 1500m, highlighted by Maggie Reed's first-place finish in 4:34.08.

• Quinn Davis claimed the men's 5000m title, clocking a winning time of 14:54.82.

•  Kiera Fax dominated the women's shot put field, recording a winning throw of 14.02 meters.

• Kaden Stewart soared to victory in the men's high jump, clearing a height of 2.11m.

• Astor Snaider secured the men's triple jump title with a winning leap of 14.56 meters.
   

UPDATING THE RECORD BOOKS

Along with the seven event titles, two Redbirds made moves in the program's top-10 list in their respective events.

• Isabelle Hemmen improved upon her fifth-place mark in program history in the women's pole vault, clearing 3.97m.

• Adi Scott now ranks 10th in program history in the hammer throw with a mark of 54.38m.

FRESH SCHOOL RECORDS

Three outdoor school records have been tied or broken so far this season.

• Seth Nelson broke the men's pole vault school record with a clearance of 5.28m at the first-annual Joyce Morton-Kief Invite on March 28.

• Becca Heitzig broke the women's 1500m school record by nearly two seconds with a time of 4:14.79 at the Pepsi Florida Relays on April 4.

• The men's 4x400m relay squad, with Zach Paul, Jake Welch, Reece Curtis and Enyinnaya Nwagwu, tied the program record with a time of 3:06.51 at the Pepsi Florida Relays on April 4.

USTFCCCA #EVENTSQUAD RANKINGS

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association released its third checkpoint of #EventSquad rankings for the 2026 outdoor season on April 14, and multiple Redbird event groups were featured among the nation's best.

• The men's shot put group, with Zach Cowper, Jo Atkins, Jacob Klink and Garrett Taylor, is ranked sixth in the nation (69.50m, 17.38m avg).

• The men's high jump group, comprised of Kaden Stewart, Voldy Makabu, Jamarion Bardwell and Trey Thomas, ranks 10th in the nation (8.15m, 2.04m avg).

• The women's 800m squad, featuring Becca Heitzig, Pauline Schedler, Colleen Zeibert and Grace Erb, is rated 27th in the nation (8:39.23, 2:09.81 avg).

• The women's 1500m group, with Heitzig, Schedler, Maggie Reed and Astrid Van Breedam, sits 35th in the country (17:40.31, 4:25.08 avg).

• The women's hammer throw group, comprised of Adi Scott, Morgan Foes, Brianna Brodie and Hannah Gibson ranks 38th in the nation (196.02m, 49.01m avg).

• The women's discus squad, featuring Scott, Brodie, Foes and Sienna Robertson, is rated 40th in the country (163.84m, 40.96m avg).

• The women's 5000m squad, consisting of Van Breedam, Reed, Mattison Plummer and Viviana Sanfilippo ranks 43^rd in the nation (1:08:34.29, 17:08.57 avg).

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).

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