ST. LOUIS – Indiana State track and field earned three of the four Missouri Valley Conference Athlete of the Week honors following a strong start to the Sycamores' season at the John Gartland Invitational. Casey Hood Jr., Reneisha Andrews and Aliseonna Garnett all earned conference accolades Wednesday morning for their performances in the season opener.
 
Hood Jr. was tabbed the MVC Men's Track Athlete of the Week, Andrews earned MVC Women's Track Athlete of the Week and Garnett was named MVC Women's Field Athlete of the Week. Andrews and Hood Jr. both rank in the top 10 nationally in the 60m, Hood Jr. also owns a top-15 national ranking in the 200m and Garnett owns top-25 national rankings in both throws events.
 
Hood Jr. started his 2025-26 season with a bang, claiming first-place finishes in both the 60m and 200m with meet record times at the John Gartland Invitational. The 2025 Second Team All-American clocked times of 6.71 in prelims and 6.63 in finals to win the 60m, breaking meet and facility records in the process, and he closed out his season debut with a 21.87 in the 200m, breaking the meet record by more than three-tenths of a second. Hood Jr.'s 60m time ranks third in the nation this season and is also the fastest in both the MVC and Great Lakes Region, while his conference-leading 200m time is also second in the Great Lakes Region and 13th nationally.
 
Andrews made an instant impression in her Indiana State debut, breaking meet and facility records in the 60m at the John Gartland Invitational. The Trinidad and Tobago native ran a 60m time of 7.51 in prelims and followed that with a 7.40 in finals, both of which broke the meet and facility records in the event. Andrews' 60m time ranks ninth in the nation this season while also leading both the MVC and Great Lakes Region in the event.
 
Garnett recorded a pair of commanding first-place finishes in the throws events at the John Gartland Invitational, posting conference leading and top-25 national marks in both the shot put and weight throw. Her weight throw mark of 18.77m (61-7) was a career best in the event, while her throw of 15.48m (50-9.5) was the second-best mark of her career in the event. Garnett leads the MVC and ranks in the top three of the Great Lakes region in both throws events this season, with her shot put mark sitting 13th in the nation and her weight throw mark ranked 22nd in the nation.
 
The weekly honor is the seventh of Hood Jr.'s career, having earned MVC Track Athlete of the Week honors twice during the 2025 outdoor season and four times during the 2025 indoor season. Andrews and Garnett both earned their first career MVC weekly honor.
 
Indiana State returns to action after the calendar flips to 2026, as the Sycamores play host to longtime rival Illinois State for the Coughlan-Malloy Cup January 17 inside the Indoor Track and Field Facility.
 
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