TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State track and field plays host to its second home meet in as many weeks Saturday when it welcomes teams to Terre Haute for the John Gartland Invitational.
 
Saturday's first field events inside the Indoor Track and Field Facility start at noon, with the first running events starting at 1 p.m.
 
Last Time Out
Will Staggs broke his own pole vault record, while Indiana State put together strong performances across the board against top competition at the Tyson Invitational. Staggs cleared 5.56m (18-3), a mark which ranks in the top 10 nationally, while Casey Hood Jr. added career-best and conference-leading times in both the 60m (6.59) and 200m (21.14). Michelle McDonald (200m, 24.36), Ivan Weaver (400m, 47.79) and Jahnel Bowman (triple jump, 12.39m/40-7.75) all moved up the top-10 program charts, while Janiya Bowman added a season-best 24.09 in the 200m.
 
Competing at home for the first time this season, Indiana State recorded 11 event wins at the Blue-White Classic. Wyatt Puff shattered meet and facility records with a career-best mark of 18.79m (61-7.75) in the shot put, while every Sycamore event group earned at least one first-place finish. Sweeps of the 800m and shot put titles added to a strong day for the Blue and White in their home opener, with Puff and Xavier Wills both setting facility records for the Sycamores.
 
Indiana State's distance crew set four program top-10 marks at the GVSU Big Meet, adding more accolades to a stellar 2024-25 campaign. Erica Barker maintained her spot as the second-best 5000m time in program history with a career-best time of 16:38.65, while Hadley Gradolf broke the 17-minute mark in the event to move to fourth all-time (16:59.06). Peyton Smith also added a career-best time of 17:16.33 and sits ninth in program history in the event. Indiana State also got a top-10 program mark from Brittney Burak in the 3000m, as her time of 9:50.38 moved her up to eighth in program history in the event. Emma Gresham placed in the top 10 in the field with her time of 9:40.32.
 
The Namesake
Now in his 37th season on the staff at Indiana State, John Gartland is one of the most decorated coaches in Missouri Valley Conference history. He served as the women's head cross country coach from 1988-2014 and the head women's track & field coach from 1988-2010 before handing over the reins to his former pupil and current director of the cross country and track and field programs, Angela Martin. Although he officially retired in 2015, Gartland has remained on staff as an assistant, focusing on the high jumpers. Last year, Gartland's high jumpers won three of the four MVC titles, with two qualifying for the NCAA East First Round and Grace Quinlan reaching the NCAA Outdoor National Championships.
 
Gartland is one of only 11 coaches in the Missouri Valley Conference to be named to the league's track and field All-Centennial Team. The veteran women's head coach joins John McNichols on the list to form the only coaching tandem in the league on the all-time list. His teams won 12 conference titles and have finished in the top-10 at the NCAA Championships three times, including a fifth-place finish at the 1993 NCAA Indoor Championship and a sixth-place finish at the 1994 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
 
As a head coach, Gartland coached 11 NCAA Champions, six NCAA runners-up, 50 All-Americans, 88 NCAA qualifiers, 200 MVC individual champions and 212 MVC Scholar-Athletes. He has been named the Conference Coach of the Year 10 times and the NCAA District V Coach of the Year four times (indoor track & field and outdoor track & field in both 1993 and 1994). Gartland was recently inducted into the Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame in January.
 
Sycamore Sweep
Indiana State sophomore sprinter Casey Hood Jr. and senior pole vaulter Will Staggs combined to sweep the Missouri Valley Conference weekly awards for men's track and field Tuesday afternoon after career-best weekends at the Tyson Invitational. Hood Jr. was named the MVC Men's Track Athlete of the Week for the third straight week, while Staggs was tabbed the MVC Men's Field Athlete of the Week.
 
Hood Jr. put up career-best and conference-leading times in both the 60m and 200m at the Tyson Invitational, with his 60m time also ranking among the nation's top times this season. He ran times of 6.59 (prelims) and 6.61(semifinals) in the invitational section, which featured multiple All-Americans and professional athletes, advancing as the second-best time in both. Hood Jr. also ran a career-best time of 21.14 in the 200m to win his heat. His 60m time ranks second in program history and is also tied for the second-fastest time in conference history, while his 200m time ranks third in program history. Hood Jr. owns the top time in the MVC in both the 60m and 200m, with his 60m time also ranking first in the Great Lakes region and 17th nationally. His 200m also ranks in the top five in the Great Lakes region and inside the top 100 nationally.
 
Staggs broke his own school record in the pole vault at the Tyson Invitational, clearing a career-best 5.56m (18-3) to place third in the invitational section behind only two top-10 nationally-ranked vaulters. Competing against a field which consisted of 10 top-50 pole vaulters in the nation, Staggs cleared marks of 5.16m (16-11, first attempt), 5.31m (17-5, third attempt) and 5.46m (17-11, second attempt) before clearing the record-breaking mark of 5.56m (18-3) on his second attempt. His record-breaking clearance was the best by an MVC athlete since 2001 and also marked the fourth time in his career clearing a mark over 18 feet. Staggs reclaimed the top spot in the MVC in the pole vault, with his mark also ranking second in the Great Lakes region and 14th in the nation.
 
Top-10 Trees
Indiana State has a pair of event groups which rank in the top 10 nationally heading into the final week of the regular season.
 
The Sycamores' men's shot put quartet of Wyatt Puff, Sloan Cox, Noah Bolt and Elias Foor own the highest ranking of any Indiana State group at No. 8 in the nation. Puff and Cox both rank in the top 10 in program history, with Puff also owning Indiana State's facility record in the event. The No. 8 ranking is tied for the highest ranking of any Indiana State event group at any point this season.
 
Also owning a top-10 national ranking is the Trees' men's 60m quartet of Casey Hood Jr., Terrance O'Bannon, Daunte Majors and Tahj Johnson, with that group ranked No. 9 nationally. Hood Jr. and O'Bannon both own top-three times in program history and top-25 times nationally this season, while Majors also ranks in the top five in the MVC this season in the event.
 
Home Sweet Home
Indiana State often fares well in its home meets and the start to this season's home slate was no different. The Blue and White recorded 11 first-place finishes in their first home meet of the season, the Blue-White Classic, while Wyatt Puff (shot put) and Xavier Wills (800m) both set facility records.
 
Following Saturday's John Gartland Invitational, the Sycamores have three outdoor home meets on the schedule – the Pacesetter Sports Invitational (March 29), Gibson Invitational (April 17-19) and Sycamore Open (May 9).
 
Eyes On The Prize
Indiana State has its sights set on repeating last season's success, which culminated with the Sycamores sweeping all four MVC Track and Field Championships for the first time in program history. The Sycamores' roster for the 2024 MVC Indoor Championships will be decided following Saturday's meet.
 
Entering Saturday's competition, Indiana State owns nine first-place marks in the conference. Five of those come in field events (Will Staggs – pole vault, Brooklyn Pfaff – pole vault, Jahnel Bowman – triple jump, Noah Bolt – weight throw, Niesha Anderson – weight throw), while four are in track events (Casey Hood Jr. – 60m and 200m, Rachel Mehringer – 60m hurdles, men's DMR team of Ryan York, Tahj Johnson, Caden Emmert and Jason Dworak).
 
Chase For A Championshp
Indiana State has multiple athletes within reach of an NCAA Indoor National Championships appearance, with six different Sycamores owning marks which rank in the top 35 nationally.
 
Will Staggs is the highest-ranked Sycamore in an event, with his school record-setting pole vault clearance putting him 14th nationally. Casey Hood Jr. (17th) and Terrance O'Bannon (22nd) are both ranked in the top 25 nationally in the 60m. Niesha Anderson ranks 21st in the weight throw, Rachel Mehringer is 30th in the 60m hurdles and Wyatt Puff ranks 34th in the shot put.
 
Up Next
Indiana State sets its sights on the MVC Indoor Championships March 2-3 in Chicago.
 
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