WICHITA, Kan. – Junior distance star Taylor Austin successfully defended her Valley title in the 3,000-meter steeplechase to lead Indiana State at a strong Day Two of the 2017 MVC Outdoor Championships at Wichita State on Saturday.
 
The Sycamore women currently rank fourth through nine scored events with 42 points, trailing Wichita State (124), Illinois State (55) and Northern Iowa (47). The Sycamore men, meanwhile, are in fifth place behind Wichita State (100), Southern Illinois (66), Northern Iowa (60) and Illinois State (36).
 
Austin, a native of Griffith, Ind., became the first Sycamore female to repeat in the steeplechase and won today in dominant fashion. She held a commanding lead for nearly the entire race, winning by 19 seconds at 10:19.00 over Wichita State's Rebekah Topham at 10:38.06.
 
Sophomore Caitlyn Redmon had a busy day as ISU's other female All-MVC finisher on the day. First, alongside fellow sophomore Ayanna Morgan, she finished the heptathlon. Morgan took ninth overall at 4,701 points (5th all-time at ISU) whole Redmon finished 10th at 4,606 (6th all-time).
 
After a long two days of competition in the heptathlon, Redmon immediately followed that with a clutch third-place finish in the women's long jump at 5.79m (19-00.00).
 
Fellow sophomores Cassaundra Roper (shot put) and Kara Cooke (high jump) also secured some key points for the Sycamore women. Roper was heartbreakingly close to the podium and All-MVC honors, finishing fourth overall at 14.59m (47-10.50) after entering the final round of throws in third place.
 
Cooke, meanwhile, continued her excellent season in a tie for sixth in the high jump at 1.62m (5-03.75).
 
The Sycamore men, meanwhile, had an All-MVC performance themselves in the form of junior high jumper Jaime Murtagh. The Irish native went one-on-one with SIU All-American Kyle Landon, earning his second-career All-MVC runner-up finish at 2.09m (6-10.25) – which three great attempts at 2.15m (7-00.25). Freshman Tyler Owen helped in the cause, scoring eighth overall at 2.01m (6-07.00).
 
Also scoring for the Sycamore men was senior Devyn Mikell, who wrapped up his superb Indiana State career with a fourth-place finish in the long jump at 7.33m (24-00.75), and freshman Seth Cousins, who took eighth place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at 9:33.68.
 
The most important facet going into the third and final day of the championships was Indiana State's performance in the prelims on the track on Saturday. After qualifying six to finals on Friday, the Sycamores one-upped themselves with nine more finals qualifiers on Saturday.
 
Seniors Marcus Neely and Daley Carter took care of business in the 110-meter hurdles, going one-two in the prelims to setup another potential Sycamore-dominated hurdle final. Neely took the top time of the day at 13.79 (he entered the day with a season-best 13.77) and Carter the second-best at 13.93 – a new (and wind-legal) career-best.
 
Indiana State is looking for its sixth consecutive outdoor hurdles title in the efforts to become the first Valley school to do so since Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) won nine from 1937-48 (there were no contests from 1943-45 due to the Second World War). The Sycamores have also placed at least two All-MVC finishers in the men's hurdles in each of the last four years.
 
Junior Patrycja Dziekonska made it through in the women's 100-meter hurdles, finishing fourth in her heat but taking one of the time qualifiers at 14.10 seconds. Ayanna Morgan just missed out at 14.22 (14.16 made it in).
 
Senior All-American Alethia Marrero kept the hurdles success going, dominating her heat of the women's 400-meter hurdles at 1:00.46 – the second-best time of the day. Marrero owns a career-best 57.71 from the 2015 season. She will also feature on ISU's 4x400-meter relay on Sunday.
 
Indoors she led freshman Imani Davis to a one-two finish in the 800-meter, but this time around it will be Davis and sophomore star Brooke Moore leading the charge in the 800. Davis and Moore both won their heats for automatic qualifier spots, Davis running 2:12.98 and Moore 2:14.94. Moore entered the meet with the Valley's second-best 800 time this season at 2:06.74 behind Marrero's 2:06.33. Moore is also entered in tomorrow's 1500-meter final with fellow sophomore Abigail Grider.
 
The Sycamore 400-meter sprinters got the job done today as well, with senior Tyrell Dowdell running the third-fastest men's prelim at 47.86 and junior Oschtisha Jackson clocking the sixth-best women's 400 at 55.90 to both advance to tomorrow's final.
 
Junior Tristan Parmley had arguably the most statistically impressive performance of the day, rattling off a huge NCAA wind-legal PR in the men's 100-meter dash to qualify himself for the final tomorrow afternoon. Parmley ran 10.40 with a 3.7 wind reading, the third-best time in the prelims and tied with John Story for the second-best in school history after Tony Tate's 1993 time of 10.33. His time also puts him 43rd in the NCAA East Region.
 
The final day of competition will begin at 12:30 p.m. ET on Sunday with the women's triple jump and discus. The Valley on ESPN3 coverage will begin with the track finals at 1:55 p.m. ET.
 
Day Two Women's Team Scores (Through nine events):
1. Wichita State – 124
2. Illinois State – 55
3. Northern Iowa – 47
4. Indiana State – 42
5. Southern Illinois – 33
6. Missouri State – 21
7. Loyola – 20
8. Bradley – 8
9. Drake – 1
 
Day Two Men's Team Scores (Through eight events):
1. Wichita State – 100
2. Southern Illinois – 66
3. Northern Iowa – 60
4. Illinois State – 36
5. Indiana State – 21
6. Drake – 10
6. Loyola – 10
8. Bradley – 9
 
Day Two Finals Qualifiers:
Daley Carter – 110-Meter Hurdles
Imani Davis – 800-Meter
Tyrell Dowdell – 400-Meter Dash
Patrycja Dziekonska – 100-Meter Hurdles
Oschtisha Jackson – 400-Meter Dash
Alethia Marrero – 400-Meter Hurdles
Brooke Moore – 800-Meter
Marcus Neely – 110-Meter Hurdles
Tristan Parmley – 100-Meter Dash
 
Day Two MVC Champions:
Taylor Austin – 3,000-Meter Steeplechase
 
Day Two All-MVC:
Taylor Austin – 3,000-Meter Steeplechase, 1st Place
Jaime Murtagh – High Jump, 2nd Place
Caitlyn Redmon – Long Jump, 3rd Place
 
Other Day Two Scorers:
Devyn Mikell – Long Jump, 4th Place
Cassaundra Roper – Shot Put, 4th Place
Kara Cooke – High Jump, 6th Place
Seth Cousins - 3,000-Meter Steeplechase, 8th Place
Tyler Owen – High Jump, 8th Place
 
Day One Women's Team Scores (Through four events):
1. Wichita State – 49
2. Northern Iowa – 26
2. Southern Illinois – 26
4. Indiana State – 19
5. Missouri State – 16
6. Loyola – 10
7. Illinois State – 6
8. Bradley – 3
9. Drake – 1
 
Day One Men's Team Scores (Through three events):
1. Wichita State – 32
2. Southern Illinois – 30
3. Northern Iowa – 17
4. Drake – 10
5. Bradley – 9
6. Illinois State – 7
7. Loyola – 6
7. Indiana State – 6
 
Day One Finals Qualifiers:
Abigail Grider – 1500-Meter
Blake Kramer – 1500-Meter
Brooke Moore – 1500-Meter
Tristan Parmley – 200-Meter Dash
Quentin Pierce – 1500-Meter
David Timlin – 1500-Meter
 
Day One All-MVC:
Kaitlyn Moricz – Pole Vault, 3rd Place
 
Other Day One Scorers:
Cassaundra Roper – Hammer Throw, 4th Place
Emily Brady – Pole Vault, 5th Place
Ryan Chestnut – Hammer Throw, 6th Place
Akis Medrano – 10,000-Meter, 6th Place
Kim Jackson – Pole Vault, 7th Place
Jasmine Noel – Hammer Throw, 7th Place
 
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.