CHARLESTON, Ill. – Indiana State track & field picked-up five individual victories and several other top-three performances inside Lantz Indoor Fieldhouse at the Eastern Illinois Friday Night Special in their final tune-up before the Missouri Valley Conference Championships.
 
It was once again the Sycamore sprinters who were the leaders on the track for the Blue & White. Beginning with the women's 60-meter dash, Mirlege Castor brought home a big win, crossing the line with a season-best and second-best time in the Valley of 7.63 and is now sitting just .08 away from 10th in ISU history. She was followed by Reynei Wallace in second with a time of 7.76, now 10th in the conference.
 
The men's sprinters were just as strong, with Jarel Shaw and Blayne Harrington earning a one-two finish in the 60-meter dash. Shaw held the advantage and ended in first, clocking the third-best time in the MVC of 6.86 while Harrington was right behind him at 6.87, the fourth-best time in the conference.
 
Jocelyn Quiles also took advantage of the tune-up meet to improve her Valley standing in the women's 800-meter run. The senior distance runner claimed the win with a season-best time of 2:15.51which converts to 2:13.97 and pushes her to sixth in the MVC.
 
The first win on the track for the Trees came in the men's mile with Leroy Russell. The sophomore clocked a time of 4:18.27, converted to 4:15.02, en route to the win to move into 12th in the Missouri Valley Conference. His teammate, Jackson Krieg, raced to a second-place finish at 4:19.76.
 
Indiana State's men also picked up a win in the last event on the track, the men's 3000-meter run. Senior Cale Kilian raced his way to gold, recording a time of 8:38.34 while teammate Ethan Breen also finished in the top-three, placing third at 8:48.42.
 
In addition to the five victories, ISU managed to collect several top-three finishes at EIU. In the women's mile run, Sydney Partyka earned silver behind a time of 5:09.65, a season-best that converts to 5:06.62. Also racing to a top-three finish on the track was sophomore Riley Tuerff in the women's 60-meter hurdles. Tuerff took third in the event with a personal-best and fifth-best Valley time of 8.93.
 
The men's 60-meter hurdles also featured a podium finish with Matthew Lewis-Banks taking second in the event with a time of 8.08.
 
In the field, Joe Barnes and Selene Weaver each earned runner-up finishes in their respective events. Weaver placed second in the women's pole vault with a clearance of 3.60m (11-09.75) while Taylor Pierce took third with a personal-best vault of 3.60m (11-09.75). Barnes placed second in the shot put with a season-best toss of 16.19m (53-01.50).
 
It was a bronze finish for the Sycamore athletes in both the men's and women's high jump. Nathan Kiger and Kevin Krutsch both placed third on the men's side with a clearance of 2.05m (6-08.75), pushing Kiger to third in the MVC and allowing the Trees to hold the top-three spots in the conference in the event. On the women's side, Kelsey Bowlds took bronze with a season-best clearance of 3.71m (5-07.25) which is now fourth in the Valley.
 
The final top-three finish for the Trees came from Kaitlyn Davis in the women's long jump. The senior placed third with a jump of 5.50m (18-00.50), holding off Ryann Porter who took fourth with a jump of 5.49m (18-00.25).
 
With the end of the EIU Friday Night Special, the Sycamores can turn their attention to the MVC Indoor Championships which will take place from Feb. 26-28 in Cedar Falls, Iowa and will be hosted by Northern Iowa. The meet will be streamed live on the Valley on ESPN.
 
For the latest information on the Sycamore Cross Country and Track & Field teams, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.