CHARLESTON, Ill. – Indiana State men's and women's track & field both finished third at the conclusion of the 2017 EIU Big Blue Classic on Saturday.
 
The Sycamore women scored 115.5 meet points behind Illinois State (194.5) and Eastern Illinois (139), while the men finished scored 133.5 behind Eastern Illinois (170) and Illinois (156.5).
 
"Today ended up being a beautiful day to compete," said ISU head coach Angela Martin. "We had some very good performances from our sprint crews and discus throwers. The 4x100-meter relay was a definite highlight."
 
"We had some other bumps here and there while we're still adjusting to outdoors," Martin continued. "The leadership on the men's team is growing and I look forward to what the rest of the season holds. I see the fight in our athletes, and although we have had a lot of growing pains throughout the indoor season, this group of young people are really starting to pull together."
 
Martin mentioned the men's 4x100-meter relay, who did indeed have an exciting day as ISU's lone event title. The quartet of Daley Carter, Jaynard Keys, Adrian Gibson and Tristan Parmley won at a sizeable season-best time of 40.91 seconds – the 27th-best time in the NCAA East Region at the moment.
 
Parmley and Keys also had strong days in the 200, with Parmley finishing fifth at 21.73 and Keys seventh at 21.92.
 
Carter also had a strong prelim in the 110-meter hurdles but was disqualified later in the finals. Carter ran a new season-best in the prelim at a wind-aided (3.0) 14.36 seconds, fourth in the prelim and currently tied for 25th in the East. Ahead of him in prelims were former Sycamore and Olympian Greggmar Swift (second, 13.99) and senior Marcus Neely (third, 14.09).
 
Swift ended up winning at 13.81, with the top collegiate finish going to Milwaukee's Nate Pozolinski (13.87) and the collegiate runner-up finish going to Neely (14.17).
 
Both the Sycamore men and women performed well in the 400-meter dash with two separate runner-up finishes. Dowdell, who won the 400 at Ole Miss last week at 48.18, finished second at 48.19. Dowdell was later part of ISU's third-place 4x400-meter relay that ran 3:18.72.
 
Junior Oschtisha Jackson ran an outdoor season-best in her runner-up finish in the 400 at 56.31.
 
Junior high jumper Jaime Murtagh had one of two men's runner-up finishes in the field, clearing 2.03m (6-08.00) for second place.
 
Freshman Grant Harris claimed the other runner-up finish in the discus in his first meet as a Sycamore. Harris threw 46.04m (151-00) for the high finish. Ryan Chestnut also finished high in the men's discus in fourth at 45.41m (149-00).
 
Senior and defending MVC discus champion Jasmine Noel kept the success in the discus going for the Sycamores, finishing third at 46.46m (152-05).
 
Indiana State was equally as successful in the triple jump with two top-three finishes across the men's and women's events. Gino Brown leapt an outdoor career-best 14.75m (48-04.75), which ties for 43rd-best in the East Region.
 
Tasjia Thomas also finished third in the women's edition, jumping 1.25m (36-11.00) in her first career outdoor meet with the Sycamores. Indoors she set a best of 11.52m (37-09.50).
 
Adding in on the field event fun were pole vaulters Trey Kennedy and Riley Smith. Kennedy finished third overall at 4.75m (15-07.00), an outdoor career-best, with Smith behind him in fourth at 4.65m (15-03.00).
 
Other strong finishes on the day included Imani Davis in the 800 (third, 2:12.24), Taylor Rogers in the women's steeplechase (11:25.13), Ryan Cash in the men's steeple (fifth, 9:39.54), and freshman Shana Cooper in the 100-meter dash (eighth, 12.36 finals, 12.34 prelims (3.8 wind)).
 
The Sycamores will head back south next week with a trip to Auburn for the Auburn Invite on April 7-8.
 
Women's Team Scores:
1. Illinois State – 194.5
2. Eastern Illinois – 139
3. Indiana State – 115.5
4. Illinois – 84.5
5. IPFW – 55
5. Western Illinois – 55
7. Milwaukee – 52
8. Illinois-Chicago – 29
9. Valparaiso – 22
10. Bradley – 9
11. Saint Louis – 1.5
 
Men's Team Scores:
1. Eastern Illinois – 170
2. Illinois – 156.5
3. Indiana State – 133.5
4. Illinois State – 88
5. Milwaukee – 84
6. Illinois-Chicago – 54
7. Valparaiso – 26
8. Western Illinois – 17
9. Bradley – 6
10. Saint Louis – 2
 
OTHER DAY TWO SCORERS:
 
Women's 100-Meter Hurdles:
7. Patrycja Dziekonska – 14.23q (6th, 2.9w) – 16.43f
DNF Caitlyn Redmon – 14.70q (8th)
 
Men's 400:
9. Liam McGrath – 49.59
 
Women's 800:
9. Brittany Neeley – 2:16.19
 
Men's 1500:
6. Blake Kramer – 3:58.30
 
Men's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase:
8. Luke Kersteins – 9:54.58
 
Women's High Jump:
8. Kailyn Hutson – 1.58m (5-02.25)
13. Kara Cooke – 1.53m (5-00.25)
 
Men's High Jump:
6. Tyler Owen – 1.93m (6-04.00)
T7. Ben Andreatta – 1.93m (6-04.00)
 
Women's Triple Jump:
7. Ethanity Dunn – 10.95m (35-11.25)
 
Women's Discus:
9. Jada Jackson – 42.10m (138-01)
12. Cassaundra Roper – 39.77m (130-06)
 
Women's Javelin:
6. Kailyn Hutson – 34.04m (111-08) – 3-meter PR
12. Caitlyn Redmon – 28.02m (91-11)
 
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.