FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Illinois State track and field team turned in a successful outing on Friday at the John McDonnell Invitational, as the Redbirds broke three school records and collected several top-five finishes in their respective events.
"Overall, it was a phenomenal day. I'm very excited, said head coach Jeff Bovee. "There is some great competition here with Arkansas being one of the best facilities in the country. We're fortunate to come here and be able to make the best out of it and this experience."
One of the highlights of the day came in the men's 100m dash, as Zach Paul finished runner-up and shattered the school record with a wind-aided time of 10.19. Enyinnaya Nwagwu Jr. moved into 10th in school history with a personal best time of 10.46 in the same event.
Lindsey Miller placed fifth in the 100m dash with a wind-aided time of 11.53, improving her fifth-place time in the ISU record books, and followed that up with a season-best mark of 23.78 in the 200m dash.
Macee Rivers continued the Redbirds' success on the track, winning the 100m hurdles with a wind-aided time of 13.32 to jump from sixth to third in program history.
Maggie Reed was another top-five finisher for the Redbirds, taking fourth in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 10:53.98.
The night ended strong with the men's 4x400m relay squad of Nwagwu, Paul, Jake Welch and Evan Watson breaking the school record by over a second with a time of 3:05.27.
Field Events
Illinois State had lots of success in the field events, as well. Leading the way was Seth Nelson, who broke his own school record in the men's pole vault with a clearance of 5.30m.
Rex Hallam took third in the long jump, posting a personal-best mark of 7.37m to move into seventh in program history.
Voldy Makabu earned bronze in the high jump with a season-best leap of 2.11m, while Kaden Stewart took fourth with a mark of 2.06m. Victor Byaundaombe placed third in the triple jump with a season-best leap of 15.16m.
In the men's shot put, Jacob Klink improved his seventh-place mark in program history from 17.80m to 17.96m and placed fourth, while Jo Atkins placed fifth in the event with a throw of 16.75m. Â On the women's side, Keira Fax took bronze with a personal-best throw of 14.70m.
Illinois State boasted two more top-five finishers in the women's discus, as Sienna Robertson took fourth with a throw of 43.14m, and Brianna Brodie earned fifth with a mark of 40.90m.
UP NEXT
The Redbirds will be back in action at the Badger Challenge hosted by the University of Wisconsin on Friday, May 1.
