THIS WEEK
The Illinois state track and field squad heads to Gainesville, Fla., this weekend to compete in the Pepsi Florida Relays at the Pearcy Beard Track at James G. Pressly Stadium. Collegiate competition begins 1:30 p.m. CT on Friday and 8 a.m. CT on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT
The Redbirds earned 12 event titles as both the men's and women's squads won the team race with 219 and 128 points at the first-annual Joyce Morton-Kief Invite last weekend.
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Seth Nelson earned the men's pole vault title and broke the school record with a clearance of 5.28m.
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Garrett Taylor won the men's discus event with a personal-best throw of 56.57m to move into fourth in school history.
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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.
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Abby Milott won the women's long jump with a personal-best outdoor mark of 5.71m.
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Brody Rigdon took home gold in the men's long jump with a mark of 7.09m.
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Voldy Makabu won the high jump with a mark of 2.05m and the triple jump with a leap of 14.94m.
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Zach Paul won the men's 400m with a personal-best time of 47.18.
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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.
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Heitzig won the women's 800m race and moved into eighth in school history with a time of 2:07.77.
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Julian Baker took home gold in the men's 800m with a time of 1:52.35.
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Brooke Zeibert led the Redbirds in the 1500m race, winning first with a time of 4:35.29.
NELSON CLEARS HISTORY (AGAIN)
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 at the first-annual Joyce Morton-Kief Invite last Saturday.
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Nelson's record-breaking performance earned him Missouri Valley Conference Men's Field Athlete of the Week on April 1. It is his second career MVC weekly honor.
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His mark of 5.28m leads the conference and ranks fourth in the Midwest Region.
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Nelson now holds both the indoor and outdoor school records in the men's pole vault, as he broke the indoor record with a mark of 5.30m at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational on Jan. 24.
UPDATING THE RECORD BOOKS
Along with Nelson's school record, a few other Redbirds entered the program's top-10 in their respective events either at the Joyce Morton-Kief Invite or at the Wash U Distance Carnival.
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Garrett Taylor moved into fourth in school history in the men' discus
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Isabelle Hemmen jumped to fifth in the ISU record books in the women's pole vault
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In St. Louis, Mattison Plummer moved into fifth all-time in program history in the 5000m race with a personal-best time of 16:34.42.
USTFCCCA #EVENTSQUAD RANKINGS
The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association released its first checkpoint of #EventSquad rankings for the 2026 outdoor season on April 1, and multiple Redbird event groups were featured among the nation's best.
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The ISU men's shot put group, with Zach Cowper, Jo Atkins, Jacob Klink and Garrett Taylor, is ranked second in the nation (68.09m, 17.02m avg).
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The women's 5,000m group with Mattison Plummer, Astrid Van Breedam, Maggie Reed and Viviana Sanfilippo sit 12th in the country (1:08:34.29, 17:08.57 avg).
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The men's long jump group, comprised of Brody Rigdon, Victor Byaundaombe, Rex Hallam and Trey Thomas, ranks 23rd in the nation (26.83, 6.71m avg).
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The women's discus squad featuring Adi Scott, Brianna Brodie, Sienna Robertson and Morgan Foes is rated 24th in the country (163.84m, 40.96m 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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