TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State men's and women's track and field will open the 2017-18 indoor season this Friday at Eastern Illinois for the EIU Early Bird.
 
The Sycamore men have been picked to finish fourth at the MVC Indoor Championships, while the women were chosen to place second, as released by last Thursday's MVC Indoor Preseason Coaches Poll.
 
This will be the second consecutive season that ISU opens at EIU Early Bird and both the Sycamore men and women came away victors last season.
 
With 24 new faces, Friday's competition will be the beginning of a journey for the men to get back into the top-three in the MVC after finishing fifth a season ago.
 
Returning for the Sycamore men on the track are Tristan Parmley, Daley Carter, and Akis Medrano who are all coming off of strong outdoor seasons. Parmley broke the Indiana State record in the 100-meter dash at the MVC Outdoor Championships with an incredible time of 10.29. The time was good enough for All-MVC honors after finishing third and he qualified for the NCAA East Regional where he finished 37th.
 
Carter helped to uphold the tradition of "Hurdle U" last season after finishing in fourth in the 60-meter hurdles at the Indoor MVC Championships and second behind All-American Marcus Neely in the 110-meter hurdles at the outdoor championships. Carter also earned a berth to the NCAA East Regional last outdoor season. He currently sits at sixth all-time at ISU in the 110-meter hurdles at 13.78 and eighth in the 60-meter hurdles at 7.85.
 
Not only is Medrano coming off of a stellar cross country season where he earned All-MVC honors, he also has momentum from the 2017 outdoor season after earning a chance to compete at the NCAA East Regional. Medrano has the fourth-best time in school history in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 29:50.99.
 
In the field, Jaime Murtagh is looking to build off of an All-MVC performance at the outdoor championships last year where he finished second in the high jump, and eventually went on to the NCAA East Regional where he finished 36th. Jaime sits at 10th all-time in the high jump at 2.12m (6-11.50).
 
On the women's side, a total of 10 All-MVC athletes are returning, a big part of why the Sycamores are expected to challenge Illinois State for the top spot in the MVC.
 
Redshirt junior Cassaundra Roper returns to ISU after winning the shot put title last season in Cedar Falls. Roper currently sits at fourth all-time in the indoor shot put at Indiana State with a distance of 15.46m (50-08.75).
 
The star distance duo of Taylor Austin and Brooke Moore are also coming off of impressive indoor and outdoor seasons. Moore was the runner-up at the MVC Indoor Championships in the mile last season, and claimed victory in the 1500-meter run at the outdoor championships. Her performance earned her a trip to the NCAA East Regional where she finished 16th with a school-record time of 4:18.64. She also holds the school-record in the mile with a time of 4:43.04.
 
All-American Taylor Austin is fresh off of a phenomenal cross country season which finished with an MVC runner-up award and All-Region honors at the Great Lakes Regional. She ran the second-best time in school history in the 6K at 21:00.04.
 
At the NCAA East Regional last season, Austin destroyed the previous school-record in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a new time of 10:02.80 en route to the NCAA Championships in Oregon where she earned Honorable Mention All-American honors. She also claimed the MVC outdoor championship in the steeplechase and was the runner-up in the 5000-meter run.
 
Competition at Eastern Illinois begins at 3:00 p.m. ET on Friday with the men's weight throw.
 
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.