BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana State men's and women's track & field wrapped up a solid weekend at the Gladstein Invite with two more runner-up finishes on Saturday afternoon at IU's Gladstein Fieldhouse.
 
Senior Devyn Mikell notched another high finish in his signature long jump, finishing second at a leap of 7.22m (23-08.25). Mikell nearly hit his season best (7.26m/23-10.00), which ranked 43rd in the NCAA entering this weekend.
 
Senior All-American Alethia Marrero narrowly finished second in the fast section of the 600-meter run. Marrero lost by less than a tenth of a second after running 1:31.65, falling just shy of IU's Taylor Williams' 1:31.56. Marrero ranks second all-time in ISU history in the non-standard event at 1:30.21 (from 2015), and currently ranks seventh in the NCAA at her time from today.
 
Marrero was also the second leg on the women's 4x400-meter relay that ran a season-best 3:49.68 to finish fifth overall and win Heat Two. Also on the relay were Imani Davis, Oschtisha Jackson and Jamie Newsome as the anchor.
 
Junior Aleksey Green had similar success in the 600-meter, finishing third in the open section at 1:36.74.
 
Sophomore Ayanna Morgan continued her superb start to the 2017 season with two more solid performances in the 200-meter and the long jump. In the 200, Morgan ran a PR 25.39 to finish sixth overall, a team-best for the Sycamore women this season. Morgan followed that up with a finals appearance in the long jump, where she finished ninth overall at 5.53m (18-01.75). Morgan still owns the team's best mark in the long jump this year: 5.77m (18-11.25) from last week.
 
Sophomore Miami of Ohio transfer Caitlyn Redmon was ISU's top finisher in the long jump, coming close to Morgan's team-best after finishing fourth at 5.66m (18-07.00).
 
The Sycamore men also had two in the seeded section of the men's 200-meter dash, with Jaynard Keys (fourth, 22.26) and Carl McQuay (sixth, 22.55) both running season-bests.
 
"We've got some things to work on, but this was a steady meet this weekend," said head coach Angela Martin. "At this point in the season though, steady is good. Everyone is getting back into the swing of weekly competition, and you want things to start off smooth before the height of the season."
 
"We did have some great outings, though, with Brooke (Moore) in the mile and the hurdlers yesterday, and today Alethia ran great in the 600 and Devyn had another good day in the long jump," Martin continued. "Ayanna Morgan is also having a very strong indoor start for us and proved that again today with another PR in the 200. We're got to keep going, but I like the direction we're going."
 
The Sycamores will return to the road next week up to Northern Iowa for the Mark Messersmith Invite on Sat., Jan. 28.
 
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
 
Men's 200-Meter Dash:
6. Tyrell Dowdell – 22.53 – SB
 
Men's 4x400-Meter Relay:
4. Anyaebunam, Dowdell, Wolz, McGrath – 3:18.35 – SB
 
Women's High Jump:
5. LeVisa Evans – 1.63m (5-04.25)
 
Men's High Jump:
4. Jaime Murtagh – 2.02m (6-07.50)
 
Women's Shot Put:
9. Cassaundra Roper – 14.52m (47-07.75) – SB
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track and Field team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.