AUBURN, Ala. – Indiana State men's and women's track & field had a stellar final day at Auburn's Tiger Track Classic, with several nationally and regionally ranked performances amid a handful of event wins and high finishes on Saturday.
 
"We had some great moments on the track today and a lot of our athlete took advantage of the good competition and weather," said ISU interim head coach Angela Martin.
 
It came as no surprise that Brooke Moore led the way yet again, adding another milestone to a sophomore season that has been nothing but fast times and records. Moore opened the season with a three-second PR in the 800 at Ole Miss at 2:09.47 – which still ranked as the top 800 time in the Valley entering this weekend – and one-upped herself again in the 800 today.
 
Moore won the 800 at 2:06.74, another three-second PR that pushes her from sixth to fourth all-time at Indiana State outdoors behind superb 800 runners Alethia Marrero (2:02.67, 2015, MVC Record), Leeann Michl (2:05.57, 2013) and head coach Angela Martin's 2000 time of 2:06.05. Moreover, Moore now ranks 12th in the NCAA and ninth in the East Region with her time today, which also pushes her Valley lead to five seconds.
 
Entering this week, Moore also ranked 22nd nationally and 11th regionally at her school-record 1500-meter time of 4:20.02 ran last week at the Stanford Invite. Moore's 2016-17 season has consisted of an All-MVC third-place finish at the MVC Cross Country Championships, a runner-up finish in the mile at the MVC Indoor Championships and two indoor school records in the mile (4:43.04) and 3K (9:35.60) before her outdoor season even began.
 
Brittany Neeley also had a strong 800 race today, finishing fourth at a three-second ISU best of 2:12.01. Currently she ranks third in the Valley, giving Indiana State three of the Valley's top-four 800 times (Imani Davis' 2:12.24 moves to fourth after today). Neeley missed the entire indoor season due to injury.
 
Senior hurdler Marcus Neely pushed himself up the national lists as well with another win in the 110-meter hurdles. The two-time NCAA Regional qualifier and Indianapolis native broke 14 seconds for the first time this season, winning on a time of 13.93 seconds in a slight headwind (-0.1). Neely's season-best time today improves his Valley lead and moves him up to 16th nationally and into a tie for sixth in the NCAA East Region.
 
Fellow senior Daley Carter followed suit, shaving one-tenth off his season-best to finish third at 14.25. Carter still ranks third in the Valley behind Neely and UNI's Jon Rus (14.18), but moves up to 46th in the NCAA and into a tie for 27th in the East Region.
 
Junior high jumper Jaime Murtagh made a monumental leap today, tying a career-best in just the third meet of the outdoor season. Murtagh won the high jump at 2.12m (6-11.50), an outdoor career-best while that gives him sole possession of 10th all-time in school history. Murtagh cleared 2.11m (6-11.00) at the MVC Outdoor Championships last year before clearing the same height he hit today to win the Irish National Championship last June. Today's height ties his indoor PR from 2016 and currently ranks second in the Valley, 24th in the NCAA and 10th in the East.
 
"Coach (John) Gartland has made some changes with his approach, and it is paying off," Martin said.
 
The Sycamore men also nabbed a high finish from Blake Kramer in the 1500, finishing runner-up at a four-second PR time of 3:51.84. Kramer's time today falls just .31 seconds shy of cracking the all-time top-10 and ranks sixth in the Valley.
 
Junior Taylor Austin had a career day in the 1500 as well, finishing fourth at a two-second PR of 4:27.29. Austin's new time ranks second all-time and would have broken senior associate AD Angie Lansing's 1997 record of 4:27.92 if not for Moore's performance last week. Austin ranks third in the Valley, giving the Sycamore women two of the top-three times at the moment.
 
Scott Schreiber also returned from injury to record a high finish for the Sycamore men. Schreiber, who missed most of the indoor season, finished third in the long jump at an outdoor team-best leap of 7.27m (23-10.25), the second-best in the Valley and 33rd-best in the East this season.
 
Senior All-American Alethia Marrero launched herself up the regional list as well with a third-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles. Marrero ran a two-second season-best time of 1:00.18, which improves upon her place as No. 2 in the Valley but vaults her up to No. 37 in the East. Marrero also ranks No. 3 in the 400-meter dash (55.75) and is the defending MVC Indoor 800-meter champion.
 
Speaking of the 400, freshman Imani Davis brought down her 400 time today as well, finishing 10th at 56.25 to move into seventh in the Valley. ISU currently owns three of the top-eight times in the conference.
 
Both Davis and Marrero were part of the women's 4x400-meter relay that ran an overall season-best at 3:44.73. The duo ran the first two legs, followed by Oschtisha Jackson and Brittany Neeley, clocking the MVC's third-best 4x400 this outdoor season.
 
Sophomore Ayanna Morgan kept ISU's success in the hurdles going with a career day in the 100-meter hurdles. Morgan, a native of Barbados, finished fifth at 14.25 – the 10th-best time in school history.
 
In the men's 400, senior Tyrell Dowdell kept his excellent final season with the Sycamores going with his first foray under 48 seconds this season. Dowdell finished fifth overall at 47.99, the second-best time in the Valley this season.
 
Dowdell also ran the second leg of the ISU men's 4x400-meter relay alongside CJ Anyaebunam, Liam McGrath and Charles Sykes. The relay finished seventh but ran an overall season-best time of 3:18.08, third-best in the Valley this season.
 
The Sycamore men's short sprinters had success on the track as well. Tristan Parmley ran a season-best 10.84 in the 100 to finish eighth, the seventh-best time in the Valley.
 
Parmley finished ninth in the 200 as well at a PR time of 21.48, narrowly behind teammate Jaynard Keys in seventh at 21.47.
 
Both were members of the men's 4x100-meter relay alongside Daley Carter and Devyn Mikell that came close to running yet another season-best time. The quartet ran 40.97 to finish fifth, coming close to last week's 40.91 ran at EIU.
 
The Sycamores return home for two straight weeks of track action in Terre Haute. First, Indiana State will host the Gibson Invitational on April 14-15 this upcoming week. The following week, the Sycamores will host the Pacesetter Invite on April 21-22.
 
"This was a good trip, and I know that the team is now looking forward to competing in front of family and friends the next two weeks," Martin concluded.
 
OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
 
Men's 100-Meter Dash:
11. Jaynard Keys – 10.94
13. Scott Schreiber – 11.07
 
Women's 100-Meter Hurdles:
11. Patrycja Dziekonska – 14.70
 
Women's 400-Meter Dash:
14. Ahmanah Woods – 57.15 – SB
 
Women's 1500:
12. Abigail Grider – 4:36.72 – 5-second PR
17. Alli Workman – 4:41.78 – 1st-career 1500
 
Men's 1500:
7. Akis Medrano – 3:53.95 – 5-second PR – 9th MVC
 
Men's 3,000-Meter Steeplechase:
2. Seth Cousins – 9:43.00
 
Women's Pole Vault:
5. Kaitlyn Moricz – 3.75m (12-03.50)
 
Men's Long Jump:
5. Devyn Mikell – 7.00m (22-11.75)
 
Women's Shot Put:
9. Jasmine Noel – 13.63m (44-08.75)
 
Women's Discus:
8. Jada Jackson – 43.39m (142-04)
10. Jasmine Noel – 42.51m (139-06)
 
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.