FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Illinois State track and field finished day two of competition at the NCAA West Preliminary Round on Thursday at John McDonnell Field, highlighted by a school-record performance from freshman Pauline Schedler.
Schedler broke the Illinois State record in the women's 1500-meter run (4:14.76), clocking a time of 4:14.18 to finish among the top five in her heat and automatically qualify for Saturday's NCAA West Quarterfinals.
Senior Macee Rivers also advanced to Saturday's quarterfinal round, posting a time of 13.40 in the women's 100-meter hurdles. The senior finished 20th overall to secure her first-career appearance in the NCAA West Quarterfinal, which is slated for Saturday evening.
Sophomore Becca Heitzig narrowly missed advancing in the women's 1500-meter run. The sophomore crossed the finish line in 4:18.40, recording the 22nd-fastest time overall on Thursday. Despite the strong effort, Heitzig fell just short of qualifying for the quarterfinals after not finishing among the automatic qualifiers in her heat and missing out on one of the four remaining at-large spots.
On the men's side, junior Seth Nelson cleared 5.07 meters in the pole vault to place 20th overall.
UP NEXT
Several Redbirds return to action Friday as Illinois State continues its quest for NCAA Championship qualifying spots. Competition will be streamed on ESPN+.
Friday Schedule
1 p.m. CT - Garrett Taylor - Discus (First Round)
2 p.m. CT - Voldy Makabu - High Jump (First Round)
8:45 p.m. CT - Zach Paul, Reece Curtis, Jake Welch, Enyinnaya Nwagwu Jr., Jaiden Reed - Men's 4x400m Relay (First Round)
