2018 MVC Indoor Championships
Dates	Feb. 24-25, 2018
Location	Cedar Falls, Iowa / UNI-Dome
Meet Info	Meet Notes | Schedule | Live Results | Heat Sheets | Championship Central
ESPN3 Schedule	Day One: 7:30 p.m. ET //  Day Two: 2:15 p.m. ET
Indoor Records	Records | Men's Performance List | Women's Performance List
National Rankings	Top-25 Men | Top-25 Women | Men's Individual | Women's Individual
MVC Info	Preseason Poll | Track Home | Men's Records | Women's Records | Performance List
Track News	USTFCCCA | Track & Field News
Social Media	@IndStTrackField | @SycamoreTrack | @SycamoreTrack

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa. – The Indiana State men's and women's track and field teams will be looking to come back to Terre Haute with some hardware this weekend, as they head to Northern Iowa to compete in the 2018 MVC Indoor Championships on Saturday and Sunday.
 
"I'm really excited. I think our team has grown so much this year and the attitudes have been very positive, the energy's been really good and I think we have a group of people who want to go win," head coach Angela Martin said. "It's going to be a tough task but they're ready and they're as ready as they're going to be, so we just have to go out and compete now."
 
The Sycamore women have been picked to finish in a tie for first-place with the Illinois State and the men have been picked to finish second, tied with UNI in the MVC Pre-Championship poll of conference coaches. In the preseason poll the ISU women were tabbed second and the men were chosen to finish fourth.
 
Last season, Wichita State was crowned the MVC champions on both the men's and women's side with their men winning by 38 points and the women overtaking Illinois State by 62 points.
 
The Sycamore women will be in a tight competition with Illinois State this weekend, but they will have a deep roster to help them contend for the championship. Brittany Neeley, Taylor Austin, and Ayanna Morgan will be the leaders on the track for ISU, just like they have been for most of the season.
 
Neeley has been dominant this year in 800-meter run, improving her time at every meet. Her last outing at the Music City Challenge in Nashville produced her best time of 2:07.25, a career-best which is fifth all-time at Indiana State, second in the Missouri Valley and 47th in the nation. She and Brette Correy from UNI have been going back-and-forth all year in the 800, as Correy sits ahead of her by less than a second. Neeley will also be running on the Distance Medley Relay team and she is no stranger to success in that event, as she was a member of the 2016 MVC champion DMR team.
 
With two school records this year, Taylor Austin will enter the MVC Championships looking for victories in both the 3K and 5K. Austin has lit the track on fire in both events, earning a school record time of 9:23.58 (a record by 12 seconds) in the 3K and also a school record time of 16:31.84 (a record by 21 seconds) in the 5K. To go along with those school records, she leads the Valley in the 3K and sits in second in the 5K, but is close to conference-leading Lindsey Brewis from Loyola. Austin finished third in the 5K in both 2016 and 2017, which gave her All-MVC honors.
 
Ayanna Morgan is looking for her first-ever MVC championship and the 60-meter hurdles look like the prime opportunity for her to accomplish that goal. Morgan started off the year by running the third-best time in school history of 8.46 at the EIU Early Bird. When she returned to EIU last weekend, she broke the school record with an impressive time of 8.39. She currently leads the MVC in the hurdles.
 
The women will also send a strong throws roster consisting of Cassaundra Roper, Jasmine Noel and Erin Reese. Reese and Noel are both in the top-five of the MVC in the shot put with Reese sitting in third at 14.81m (48-08.25) and Roper in fourth with a mark of 14.55m (47-09.00). All three throwers are in the top-five of the conference in the weight throw, led by Reese in second at 19.45m (63-09.75) while both Roper and Noel are tied for fourth at 18.93m (62-01.25).
 
In the pole vault, Kim Jackson and Emily Brady own top-three positions in the Valley. Jackson has the second-best mark of 3.75m (12-03.50), which is only .02m away from first. Brady earned a new career-best last weekend at the EIU Friday Night Special of 3.74m (12-03.25), which is third in the conference.
 
Looking to continue the tradition of 'Hurdle U' for the men will be Daley Carter who will be in a tight race with Kentre Patterson and Jaylan McConico from Illinois State for the 60-meter hurdles crown. Carter's time of 7.87 from the Terre Haute Double Dual is third in the MVC and 31st nationally, but the difference between first and third in the conference is only .03. If Carter manages to win the title, it will be the sixth straight season an Indiana State athlete has won the 60-meter hurdles title. The Sycamores are the last team to win six straight titles, as they won six in-a-row from 1996-2001.
 
Also on the track for the men will be Akis Medrano who sits in the top-five of the Valley in the mile, 3K and 5K. At the championships, Medrano will only be competing in the 3K and 5K, however. In the men's 3K he currently owns the second-best time in the conference at 8:13.39 which is fifth all-time at ISU. Medrano also sits in the top-10 in school history in the 5K, coming in at fifth with a time of 14:29.32 which is good enough for fourth in the Valley.
 
Close behind Medrano in the 3K is Ryan Cash. Cash is in third in the Missouri Valley and also owns the sixth-best time in school history at 8:14.59. Both he and Medrano will be looking to challenge conference-leader Michael Ward from Bradley.
 
Scott Schreiber and Gino Brown lead the Indiana State men in the field and lead the conference in the long jump and triple jump, respectively. At the Meyo Invitational, Schreiber jumped an indoor-best 7.38m (24-02.50) to give him a .11m advantage over the second-place contender in the conference. His mark is also ninth in ISU history. Brown leads the MVC in the triple jump with a mark of 14.58m (47-10.00) from the 2018 Mark Messersmith Invitational. He will have a battle on his hands, as spots two through four are owned by Southern Illinois.
 
"I think we have a very balanced team this year. We don't have a huge are that we're falling apart in. The men's and women's teams are a little bit different, but I feel like we have strong athletes in the distances, we've got strong sprinters, our jumpers are doing well, and our throwers have been doing well," Martin said. "We've got a lot of athletes that can be stars for us."
 
The 2018 MVC Indoor Championships will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 24 with the beginning of the women's pentathlon. ESPN3 and WatchESPN will broadcast at select times each day, going live at 7:30 p.m. ET on day one to catch the 5K and DMR finals, and will start at 2:15 p.m. ET on day two.
 
ESPN3 Broadcast Schedule:
Day One (Sat., Feb. 24): 7:30 p.m. ET
Day Two (Sun., Feb. 25): 2:15 p.m. ET
 
Women's Pre-Championship Poll:
1. Illinois State - 95 (5)
1. Indiana State - 95 (5)
3. Southern Illinois - 78
4. UNI - 71
5. Missouri State - 59
6. Loyola - 46
7. Drake - 42
8. Bradley - 34
9. Evansville - 15
9. Valparaiso - 15
 
Men's Pre-Championship Poll:
1. Illinois State - 76 (6)
2. Indiana State - 65
2. UNI - 65 (1)
4. Southern Illinois - 64 (2)
5. Bradley - 43
6. Loyola - 36
7. Drake - 25
8. Valparaiso - 22
9. Evansville - 9
 
Women's Pre-Season Poll:
1. Illinois State - 95 (8)
2. Indiana State - 87 (1)
3. Southern Illinois - 79 (1)
4. Northern Iowa - 75
5. Missouri State - 64
6. Loyola - 44
7. Drake - 41
8. Bradley - 35
9. Valparaiso - 17
10. Evansville - 13
 
Men's Pre-Season Poll:
1. Southern Illinois - 75
2. Illinois State - 72
3. Northern Iowa - 67
4. Indiana State - 56
5. Bradley - 39
6. Loyola - 35
7. Drake - 33
8. Valparaiso - 17
9. Evansville - 11
 
Last Five Women's MVC Indoor Champions:
2017: Wichita State
2016: Illinois State
2015: Indiana State
2014: Indiana State
2013: Wichita State
 
Last Five Men's MVC Indoor Champions:
2017: Wichita State
2016: Wichita State
2015: Indiana State
2014: Indiana State
2013: Indiana State
 
Returning Women's Indoor All-MVC:
 
2017
Cassaundra Roper - Shot Put, 1st place
Imani Davis - 800-Meters, 2nd place
Brooke Moore - Mile, 2nd place
Jamie Newsome - Triple Jump, 2nd place
Jamie Newsome, Imani Davis, Oschtisha Jackson - 4X400-Meter Relay, 2nd place
Taylor Austin - 5K, third place
Aleksey Green, Abigail Grider, Ahmanah Woods - Distance Medley Relay, 3rd place
 
2016
Jamie Newsome - Triple Jump, 1st Place
Aleksey Green, Ahmanah Woods - Distance Medley Relay, 1st Place
Cassaundra Roper - Shot Put, 2nd Place
Taylor Austin - 5K, 3rd Place
 
2015
Jamie Newsome -Triple Jump, 1st Place
Oschtisha Jackson, Jamie Newsome - 4x400-Meter Relay, 2nd Place
 
Returning Men's Indoor All-MVC:
 
2017
Daley Carter - 60m Hurdles, 2nd place
 
2016
Jaime Murtagh - High Jump, 2nd place
 
2015
Daley Carter - 60m Hurdles, 2nd place
 
Women's Indoor Team Championships (6):
1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2014, 2015
 
Men's Indoor Team Championships (4):
2011, 2013, 2014, 2015
 
Women's National Top-50:
40. Women's DMR - Neeley, Odusola, Moore, Conley - 11:36.24
46. Erin Reese - Weight Throw - 19.45m (63-09.75)
47. Brittany Neeley - 800-Meter Run - 2:07.25
 
Men's National Top-50:
31. Daley Carter - 60-Meter Hurdles - 7.87
 
Women's MVC Top-Eight:
1. Taylor Austin - Mile - 4:48.23
1. Taylor Austin - 3K - 9:23.58
1. Distance Medley Relay - 11:36.24
1. Ayanna Morgan - 60m Hurdles - 8.39
2. Taylor Austin - 5K - 16:31.44
2. Kim Jackson - Pole Vault - 3.75m (12-03.50)
2. Oschtisha Jackson - 400-Meter Dash - 55.54
2. Brittany Neeley - 800-Meter Run - 2:07.25
2. Erin Reese - Weight Throw - 19.45m (63-09.75)
3. 4X400-Meter Relay - 3:45.39
3. Emily Brady - Pole Vault - 3.74m (12-03.25)
3. Imani Davis - 800-Meter Run - 2:10.00
3. DeAndra Greer - 60-Meter Dash - 7.51
3. Caitlyn Redmon - High Jump - 1.68m (5-06.00)
3. Erin Reese - Shot Put - 14.81m (48-07.25)
4. Imani Davis - 400-Meter Dash - 55.97
4. Patrycja Dziekonska - 60m Hurdles - 8.54
4. Brooke Moore - Mile - 4:52.07
4. Jasmine Noel - Weight Throw - 18.93m (62-01.25)
4. Cassaundra Roper - Shot Put - 14.55m (47-09.00)
4. Cassaundra Roper - Weight Throw - 18.93m (62-01.25)
5. Jamie Newsome - Triple Jump - 11.89m (39-00.25)
5. Caitlyn Redmon - Long Jump - 5.77m (18-11.25)
6. Brooke Moore - 800-Meter Run - 2:12.52
6. Brittany Neeley - Mile - 4:52.53
7. Allana Ince - 60m Hurdles - 8.72
7. Brooke Moore - 3K - 9:52.84
7. Josie Rakes - Pole Vault - 3.50m (11-05.75)
8. Megan Doty - 5K - 17:27.47
8. Ayanna Morgan - Long Jump - 5.69m (18-08.00)
8. Tasjia Thomas - Triple Jump - 11.73m (38-06.00)
 
Men's MVC Top-Eight:
1. Gino Brown - Triple Jump - 14.58m (47-10.00)
1. Scott Schreiber - Long Jump - 7.38m (24-02.50)
2. Akis Medrano - 3K - 8:13.39
2. Tristan Parmley - 200-Meter Dash - 21.52
3. Daley Carter - 60m Hurdles - 7.87
3. Ryan Cash - 3K - 8:14.59
3. Jaime Murtagh - High Jump - 2.08m (6-09.75)
3. Hunter Schuman - Weight Throw - 19.53m (64-01.00)
4. Trey Kennedy - Pole Vault - 4.88m (16-00.00)
4. Akis Medrano - Mile - 4:07.67
4. Akis Medrano - 5K - 14:29.32
5. 4X400-Meter Relay - 3:16.89
5. Corey DuPriest - Long Jump - 7.05m (23-01.75)
5. Scott Schreiber - 60-Meter Dash - 6.88
5. Riley Smith - Pole Vault - 4.84m (15-10.05)
6. Distance Medley Relay - 10:07.76
6. Seth Cousins - 5K - 14:51.57
6. Stephen Griffith - 60m Hurdles - 8.20
6. Jaynard Keys - 60-Meter Dash - 6.89
6. Tristan Parmley - 60-Meter Dash - 6.89
6. Jarel Shaw - 60-Meter Dash - 6.89
6. Avery Taylor - High Jump - 2.03m (6-08.00)
7. Myles Aldridge - Long Jump - 7.04m (23-01.25)
7. Dearis Herron - Triple Jump - 14.11m (46-03.50)
7. Quentin Pierce - 3K - 8:23.63
8. Quentin Pierce - Mile - 4:11.61
8. Nick Schultz - High Jump - 2.01m (6-07.00)
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field teams, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.