TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Championship weekend is officially on deck for Indiana State, as the Sycamores prepare to take part in the 2022 MVC Outdoor Track and Field Championships beginning Friday at Drake Stadium.
Last Time Out
Indiana State track and field turned in a strong showing in its final meet before the MVC Championships, racking up 23 top-three finishes Friday at the Billy Hayes Invitational.
Despite less-than-ideal weather conditions and a weather delay of nearly one hour midway through the meet, the Sycamores still won seven events and set seven top-10 marks in program history.
Landis Brandon,
Cale Kilian,
Jocelyn Quiles,
William Staggs,
Zoe Sullivan and
Selene Weaver all set individual top-10 marks, while the men's 4x100m relay team of
Jarel Shaw,
JaVaughn Moore,
Tahj Johnson and
Noah Malone ran just the second sub-40 second time in program history in the event.
Trees at the Top
Indiana State was picked to finish first on both the men's and women's side in the MVC Pre-Outdoor Championship Poll, which was released Thursday morning.
ISU received seven of the nine first-place votes on the men's side and five of the 10 first-place votes on the women's side.
The Sycamores are seeking to become the first school to sweep the men's and women's indoor and outdoor championships since Wichita State in 2017. Indiana State has never won all four championships in one season.
Topping the Charts
Indiana State currently owns the top mark in the Missouri Valley Conference in eight different events, including a sweep of the top spots in the pole vault with
William Staggs and
Selene Weaver.
Also holding top marks in the conference for the Sycamores are
JaVaughn Moore (100m),
Noah Malone (200m), the men's 4x100m team of
Jarel Shaw, Moore,
Tahj Johnson and Malone,
Lawrence Mitchell (high jump),
Shomari Rogers-Walton (long jump) and
Ryann Porter (triple jump).
Sycamores in the Rankings
In addition to the top conference marks, the Sycamores also currently have 11 marks sitting in NCAA East Region qualifying positions, including three in the top 15 of their events.
JaVaughn Moore (sixth, 100m),
Noah Malone (11th, 200m) and
Ryann Porter (12th, triple jump) lead the way for the Trees, while
Shomari Rogers-Walton (30th, long jump),
William Staggs (35th, pole vault),
Brett Norton (39th, shot put),
Selene Weaver (39th, pole vault),
Wyatt Puff (44th, shot put),
Luigi Rivas (48th, 110m hurdles),
Lawrence Mitchell (48th, high jump) and
Quincy Armstrong (48th, 400m hurdles) all occupy qualifying spots for the Sycamores.
The NCAA East Preliminary qualifying field will be announced following this week's events. The top 48 individuals in each event, along with the top 32 relay teams in the 4x100m and 4x400m, will qualify.
As a team, Indiana State is ranked first in the Valley on the men's side and second on women's side. The Sycamore men held firm at seventh in this week's Great Lakes regional rankings, while ISU's women are ranked 15th in the region.
Indiana State is also ranked 64th in the nation on the men's side, and 146th on the women's side.
All Gas, No Brakes
Indiana State's men's sprinters have been a forced to be reckoned with this season, as the Sycamores have a pair in the top 15 in the nation in
JaVaughn Moore and
Noah Malone.
Combined with
Tahj Johnson, the trio makes Indiana State the only school in the conference with a sprinter in the top three in the men's 100m, 200m and 400m.
Distance Crew Coming Through
The Sycamores had a pair of top-three individual marks in school history set at the Billy Hayes Invitational, with both coming courtesy of ISU distance runners.
Jocelyn Quiles and
Cale Kilian both set personal records in Bloomington, as the Indiana State duo continued their ascent up the record book. Quiles, who broke the school record in the 5000m at the Drake Relays, ran the third-fastest time in school history in the women's 1500m at 4:23.64, while Kilian ran the second-fastest men's 1500m time in school history at 3:44.04.
Jump Around
Indiana State has the top mark in the Missouri Valley Conference in five of the eight jumps events entering this weekend's championships. All five of the Sycamores' top marks are currently in preliminary qualifying positions, with
Lawrence Mitchell (high jump),
William Staggs (pole vault),
Selene Weaver (pole vault),
Shomari Rogers-Walton (long jump) and
Ryann Porter (triple jump) holding those top marks.
Porter won the women's triple jump at the 2021 MVC Outdoor Championships, while
Kevin Krutsch won the men's high jump last season for the Sycamores.
Strong-Armed
The Sycamores have five marks in the top five of the MVC in throws events, with those marks coming from five different athletes.
Thomas Hickerson has the top ranking among the Sycamore throwers in the conference, as he currently sits second in the javelin.
Justin Miller (third) also ranks among the conference leaders in the javelin.
Indiana State has a pair in the top five in the men's shot put in
Brett Norton (fourth) and
Wyatt Puff (fifth), with both currently in preliminary qualifying positions. In the discus,
Elias Foor currently ranks fifth and is just outside the preliminary qualifying positions.
What's On Deck?
Following this weekend's meets across the country, the NCAA will announce the qualifiers for the NCAA East and West Preliminary Rounds. Indiana State's qualified athletes will compete in the NCAA East Preliminary, slated for May 25-28 in Bloomington, Indiana.
