CHICAGO – Indiana State started the Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships in style Sunday at Gately Park, as the Sycamores sit in first place on both the men's and women's side after the opening day.
Four Sycamore field athletes were crowned conference champions on the first day of competition, as Indiana State swept the titles in the pole vault and long jump.
Selene Weaver and
William Staggs claimed the pole vault titles, while
Ryann Porter and
Mitch Conard took home the long jump titles. In addition,
JaVaughn Moore broke the 60m school record for the third time this season.
Indiana State earned 64 points on the women's side on the first day of competition and 49 points on the men's side. The Sycamore women lead second-place Southern Illinois by 24 points, while Indiana State's men's team leads Illinois State by three.
MVC Champions
All-Conference
- Shomari Rogers-Walton - men's long jump (2nd, 7.41m/24-03.75)
- Landis Brandon - women's pole vault (2nd, 3.91m/12-10.00)
- Kamille Gaskin-Griffith - women's pentathlon (2nd, 3,268 points)
- Jackson Krieg, Ben Shepard, Jocqael Thorpe, Ethan Breen - men's distance medley relay (3rd, 10:06.64)
- Eva Grace Quinlan - women's pentathlon (3rd, 3,209 points)
Scoring for the Sycamores
- Callan Whitehouse - men's pole vault (4th, 4.95m/16-02.75)
- Brooklyn Giertz - women's pole vault (5th, 3.71m/12-02.00)
- Brittnee James - women's weight throw (5th, 19.39m/63-07.50)
- Frankie Young III - men's long jump (6th, 7.24m/23-09.00)
- Dominique Wood - women's long jump (6th, 5.48m/17-11.75)
- Maddie Welsh - women's pole vault (6th, 3.71m/12-02.00)
- Noah Bolt - men's weight throw (6th, 18.72m/61-05.00)
- Wyatt Puff - men's weight throw (7th, 18.40m/60-04.50)
- Dearis Herron - men's long jump (8th, 7.08m/23-02.75)
- Brett Norton - men's weight throw (8th, 17.95m/58-10.75)
Sprints/Hurdles
On a day consisting exclusively of prelims and semifinals for the sprints events, Indiana State qualified 11 sprinters for Monday's finals.
JaVaughn Moore made the biggest statement among that group, breaking his own school record in the 60m (6.63 in the semifinals) and setting a personal record in the 200m (21.24). Moore will be joined by
Jarel Shaw (6.80) and
Noah Malone (6.85) in the 60m finals.
Indiana State also sent a pair of men's 400m sprinters to the finals, as
Tahj Johnson placed second (48.64) and
Cameron Stevens placed fifth (49.25).
Mitchell Cline narrowly missed out on the finals, finishing ninth.
The Sycamores also qualified two women's sprinters for Monday finals, with
Reynei Wallace advancing out of the 200m prelims in fifth (24.74) and
Iyanla Hunter qualifying out of the 400m prelims in fourth (56.55). The marks for Wallace and Hunter were the best by a Sycamore in either event this season.
A trio of Sycamore hurdlers moved on past prelims, with
Ryann Porter (8.69) placing third in the women's 60m hurdles, and the duo of
Quincy Armstrong (5th, 8.24) and
Daryl Black (8th, 8.33) advancing out of the men's 60m hurdles prelims.
Riley Tuerff (8.99) and
Luigi Rivas (8.42) narrowly missed advancing to the women's and men's 60m hurdles finals, respectively.
Daija Springer was the lone Sycamore in the women's 60m, advancing out of prelims before placing 13th in the semifinals with a time of 7.81.
Mid/Distance
Indiana State sent six runners to finals in the mid and distance events, headlined by a trio of Sycamores advancing in the men's mile.
Ethan Breen had the top time for the Trees in the event at 4:13.71, while
Jackson Krieg (4:14.39) and
Cale Kilian (4:16.02) also moved on to Monday's final.
Jocelyn Quiles, Indiana State's lone competitor in the women's mile, also advanced out of prelims by running a time of 5:01.09 to place fifth.
Wyatt Wyman and
Napoleon Hernandez will both run in the 800m finals after placing third and sixth in the prelims, respectively. Wyman finished in 1:53.82, while Hernandez crossed the line in 1:54.24.
Indiana State's first two relays of the meet took place to close Sunday's action, with the Sycamores earning a third-place finish in the men's distance medley relay and a seventh-place finish in the women's DMR. Breen and Krieg teamed up with
Ben Shepard and
Jocqael Thorpe to run a relay time of 10:06.04, earning all-conference honors in the process.
Morgan Dyer,
Sierra Long,
Devon Zeck and
Maggie Falater teamed up in the women's relay to run 12:30.69.
Logan Pietzrak was the lone Sycamore to complete the 5000m race, placing 14th with a time of 14:52.24
Jumps/Pole Vault
All four of Indiana State's championship winners from the opening day were in the jumps and pole vault, with the Sycamores sweeping the titles in the long jump and pole vault.
William Staggs was the first Sycamore winner on the day, clearing a career-best 5.15m (16-10.75) to win in his first MVC Championships appearance.
Callan Whitehouse also earned points for the Sycamores, placing fourth after clearing 4.95m (16-02.75).
After already advancing to the 60m hurdles finals,
Ryann Porter added some hardware Sunday by taking the women's long jump title. Porter set a career-best mark of 5.70m (18-05.50) to become the second Sycamore winner of the championships, with
Dominique Wood (indoor-best 5.48m/17-11.75) also earning points for Indiana State.
Indiana State took home the top two spots in both the women's pole vault and men's long jump.
Selene Weaver and
Landis Brandon both cleared 3.91m (12-10.00) in the pole vault, with Weaver earning the conference title due to clearing the mark on the first attempt. The mark was a career-high for Brandon and earned her all-conference honors.
Brooklyn Giertz and
Maddie Welsh both cleared a career-best 3.71m (12-02.00) to place fifth and sixth, respectively.
In the men's long jump,
Mitch Conard jumped a career-best 7.42m (24-04.25), edging out fellow Sycamore
Shomari Rogers-Walton by .01m (7.41m/24-03.75) for the title. Rogers-Walton earned all-conference honors, while
Frankie Young III (7.24m/23-09.00) and
Dearis Herron (7.08m/23-02.75) also scored points for Indiana State.
Throws
Indiana State had four throwers earn points Sunday, including three scoring in one event.
Brittnee James had the best result among the Sycamore contingent with a fifth-place finish in the women's weight throw (19.39m/63-07.50).
Noah Bolt (18.72m/61-05.00),
Wyatt Puff (18.40m/60-04.50) and
Brett Norton (17.95m/58-10.75) placed sixth, seventh and eighth in the men's weight throw, respectively, to earn Indiana State six points in the event. Bolt and Puff both shattered their previous personal records in the process.
Multis
Participating in the pentathlon for the first time in over a month, Indiana State had three of the top five and four of the top eight in the event.
Kamille Gaskin-Griffith earned top-three finishes in the 60m hurdles, long jump and shot put on her way to a second-place finish with 3,269 points, a new career-high.
Eva Grace Quinlan used a huge run in the 800m, winning the final event of the pentathlon to place third with 3,209 points. Both Quinlan and Gaskin-Griffith earned all-conference honors for their performance.
Mia Mackenzie earned a top-five finish in the pentathlon with 3,097 points, with a second-place finish in the shot put her best result in an individual event.
Alexis Grider also earned points for the Sycamores, using top-five finishes in both the long jump and shot put to place seventh with 3,031 points.
Team Scores
Men's
1. Indiana State - 49
2. Illinois State - 46
3. Bradley - 27
4. Drake - 26
5. Northern Iowa - 17
6. Loyola Chicago - 14
7. Southern Illinois - 11
8. Valparaiso - 3
Women's
1. Indiana State - 64
2. Southern Illinois - 40
3. Illinois State - 38
4. Loyola Chicago - 23
5. Bradley - 21
6. Drake - 19
7. Northern Iowa - 15
8. Missouri State - 14
Up Next
The Missouri Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships conclude Monday, with the first Sycamore events slated to take place at 11:30 a.m.
Follow the Sycamores
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field and Cross Country teams, make sure to check out
GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including
Facebook and
Twitter. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the
App Store and the
Google Play Store.
- #MarchOn -
