TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State men's and women's track & field had a superb day at the Mark Messersmith Invite hosted by UNI on Saturday, winning both team titles in convincing fashion among several standout performances.
 
The Sycamore women won by nearly 100 points after a 174-87 besting of second-place Northern Iowa, while the men still won decisively in a closer 153-115 victory over the Panthers.
 
"We had a really competitive meet, and it was good to see our athletes fight through the finish in many events," said head coach Angela Martin. "We had good wins on the track and in the field events. Both our teams are pulling together and it shows in the tough scores they put up today."
 
Hurdle U looks in good shape as both senior male hurdlers Daley Carter and Marcus Neely had strong days to lead the Sycamore men in a very competitive set of races in the 60-meter hurdles. The standout performance of the day belongs to Carter, who came back to best Neely in the final at a blistering new PR of 7.85 seconds – which ties with Neely for seventh all-time in Indiana State history. Carter, who ran the fourth-best prelim time by tying his old career-best of 7.94, now leads the Missouri Valley and ranks tied for 11th in the NCAA this season at his new time.
 
"Daley really put together a clean race today," Martin said. "He and Marcus are both running well and they had a good competition today."
 
Neely won the prelims at a new season-best time of 7.87 but finished third in the final at 7.95. However, Neely still ranks within contention for the NCAA Indoor Championships, as right now he sits tied for 13th nationally (the top-16 in each event qualify for the indoor national meet).
 
Sycamore distance runners had an excellent day as well, winning the women's 800-meter and the men's mile and 3K.
 
Sophomore star Brooke Moore kept the pedal down on her superb second season with another impressive win in the 800. Moore, who has been named All-MVC during the cross country season in both her freshman and sophomore seasons, cut down her 800 PR by two seconds to win at a time of 2:10.67. She now leads the Missouri Valley, ranks 47th in the NCAA and jumps from seventh to fifth all-time in school history. Freshman Imani Davis finished third in the event at a new career-best herself at 2:13.91, the sixth-best time in the conference this year.
 
"Brooke ran a very patient race and had a monster kick at the end to beat out Imani and (UNI's Lyndsie) Schinkel," Martin said.
 
The Sycamore men, meanwhile, went one-two in both the mile and 3K. Quentin Pierce and Akis Medrano were separated by less than a second in the mile, with Pierce winning at 4:16.60 and Medrano second at 4:16.78 in his first-career mile race.
 
Ryan Cash and Daniel Swem both set career-bests in the 3K, with Cash winning at a 10-second PR of 8:38.26 and Swem runner-up at 8:39.35.
 
Senior All-American Alethia Marrero also kept her season on the right track with two more wins this afternoon after missing the entire 2016 season to injury. Marrero won the 400-meter dash at a new season and team-best time of 56.46, and was the third leg of the winning women's 4x400-meter relay of Imani Davis, Oschtisha Jackson and Jamie Newsome that set a new season-best for the second-straight week at 3:48.45.
 
Freshman Shana Cooper continued to impress with two impressive runner-up finishes on the track. Cooper had the top prelim time in the 60-meter dash at 7.64 (which tied her career-best at the time), but exploded to 7.59 in the final to finish second. That new time ranks ninth all-time in school history and fifth in the Valley.
 
Cooper was also ISU's top-finisher in the 200-meter dash, finishing second at a new PR and team-best 25.26 seconds.
 
"Shana is one of the hardest workers and she wants to be good," Martin said. "She keeps improving each week and her attitude is contagious."
 
Indiana State also won six field titles, four by the Sycamore women and two on the men's side.
 
Senior transfer and pole vaulter Kaitlyn Moricz had a big day for ISU, winning the vault at a new best of 3.81m (12-06.00). Her clearance today was a season-best by more than a half-foot, pushes her up to sixth all-time in school history after not even ranking on the list beforehand, and puts her at No. 3 in the MVC.
 
Senior Devyn Mikell won the long jump yet again, today setting a new season-best at 7.30m (23-11.50) to rank fourth in the Valley. Mikell was also the runner-up in the triple jump at a season-best 14.52m (47-07.75) to rank fifth in the Valley, just a quarter-inch off Gino Brown's winning mark of 14.54m (47-08.50), which ranks fourth in the MVC.
 
The Sycamore women, meanwhile, won titles in the women's shot put by Cassaundra Roper (14.68m/48-02.00, season-best), Caitlyn Redmon in the long jump (5.72m/18-09.25) and LeVisa Evans in the high jump (1.64m/5-04.50)
 
The Sycamores will travel north to Notre Dame next weekend for the Meyo Invitational on Feb. 3-4.
 
Women's Team Scores:
1. Indiana State – 174
2. Northern Iowa – 87
3. Milwaukee – 63
4. Drake – 53
5. South Dakota State - 52
 
Men's Team Scores:
1. Indiana State – 153
2. Northern Iowa – 115
3. South Dakota State – 84
4. Milwaukee – 47
5. Drake - 30
 
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
 
Men's 60-Meter Dash:
2. Tristan Parmley – 6.95q (2nd) – 6.89f – SB, T-5th MVC
3. Jaynard Keys – 6.95q (3rd) – 6.92f – SB, T-8th MVC
 
Women's 60-Meter Hurdles:
3. Patrycja Dziekonska – 8.79q (3rd) – 8.77f
4. Micaela McLean – 8.89q (5th) – 8.91f
 
Men's 200-Meter Dash:
6. Tristan Parmley – 22.72
 
Men's 400-Meter Dash:
3. Tyrell Dowdell – 49.62
 
Women's Mile:
2. Taylor Austin – 5:02.84 – SB
3. Aleksey Green – 5:09.09 – first-career mile
 
Women's 3K:
2. Abigail Grider – 10:10.13 – 8-second PR, 6th MVC
3. Megan Doty – 10:15.70 - SB
 
Men's 4x400-Meter Relay:
2. Anyaebunam, Dowdell, McGrath, Parmley – 3:21.21
 
Women's Pole Vault:
3. Breanna Herring – 3.66m (12-00.00) – PR, 5th MVC
 
Men's Pole Vault:
2. Tre Kennedy – 4.63m (15-02.25)
 
Men's High Jump:
2. Jaime Murtagh – 2.01m (6-07.00)
3. Tyler Owen – 1.96m (6-05.00)
 
Women's Triple Jump:
2. Jamie Newsome – 11.62m (38-01.50)
3. Ethanity Dunn – 11.34m (37-02.50)
 
Women's Shot Put:
3. Jasmine Noel – 13.22m (43-04.50)
 
Women's Weight Throw:
2. Jasmine Noel – 18.30m (60-00.50) – PR, 9th all-time
4. Cassaundra Roper – 17.59m (57-08.50) – PR, 10th all-time
 
Men's Weight Throw:
2. Ryan Chestnut – 18.01m (59-01.25)
 
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.