TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State's first meet on the newly-dedicated John McNichols Memorial Track at the Gibson Track and Field Complex ended the same way many meets in Terre Haute have, as the Sycamores placed first on both the men's and women's side at the Gibson Invitational.
In a weekend which forever immortalized McNichols, who led the Sycamores to 38 MVC Championships in his illustrious head coaching career, while also honoring past championship teams in program history, the Blue and White continued to stake their claim as one of the premier mid-major programs in the nation. Indiana State racked up 163 points on the men's side and 131.5 on the women's side. The Sycamores were 53 points ahead of the second-place men's team, Southern Illinois, while the Sycamore women finished 46 points ahead of SIU.
Wyatt Puff broke Indiana State's outdoor program record in the shot put on the final day of competition, while
Will Staggs and
Casey Hood Jr. broke meet records in the pole vault and 200m, respectively. Indiana State recorded 10 event wins over the weekend, while six program top-10 marks were set over the course of the weekend.
Event Winners
Top-Three Finishes
- Terrance O'Bannon – 100m (second, 10.54)
- Daunte Majors – 100m (third, 10.74)
- Michelle McDonald – 100m (third, 12.01)
- Ivan Weaver – 400m (second, 47.31, sixth in program history)
- Halle Miller – 800m (second, 2:12.90)
- Emma Gresham – 1500m (second, 4:30.03)
- Collin Forrest – 110m hurdles (second, 14.30)
- Gnister Grant – 3000m steeplechase (third, 11:20.37)
- Janiya Bowman, Michelle McDonald, Krystian Dilosa, Rachel Mehringer – 4x100m relay (second, 45.58, 10th in program history)
- Trent Jones, Deangelo Hughey, Caden Emmert, Ivan Weaver – 4x400m relay (third, 3:16.69)
- Dan O'Laughlin – pole vault (second – open section, 4.90m/16-0.75)
- Lincoln Hulsey – pole vault (third – open section, 4.75m/15-7)
- Kennedy Merrell – pole vault (second – open section, 3.75m/12-3.5)
- Amy Luttrell – pole vault (third – invite section, 3.70m/12-1.5)
- Sloan Cox – shot put (second – invite section, 17.97m, 58-11.5, seventh in program history)
- Niesha Anderson – shot put (third – open section, 13.61m/44-8)
- Wyatt Puff – discus (second – invite section, 55.06m/180-7)
- Noah Bolt – hammer throw (second – invite section, 61.00m/200-1)
- Olivia Marshall – hammer throw (third – open section, 49.68m/163-0)
- Lillian Gibbs – javelin (second, 43.87m/143-11)
Sprints/Hurdles
Casey Hood Jr. accounted for a pair of Indiana State's event wins over the weekend, as the All-American's stellar 2024-25 campaign carried on. Hood Jr. led a Sycamore sweep of the top three spots in the 100m with a time of 10.36 and also added a meet-record time of 20.88 in the 200m, climbing to fifth in program history in the latter event.
Terrance O'Bannon (10.54) and
Daunte Majors (10.74) rounded out the top three spots in the 100m, while
Michelle McDonald also tallied a third-place finish in the 100 on the women's side at 12.01.
Krystian Dilosa clocked a career-best 200m time of 25.29 to place in the top 15 on the women's side.
Hood Jr. wasn't the only Sycamore sprinter to clock a program top-10 time over the course of the weekend.
Ivan Weaver moved up to sixth in program history in the 400m with a time of 47.31, while the women's 4x100m relay team of
Janiya Bowman,
Michelle McDonald,
Krystian Dilosa and
Rachel Mehringer moved up to 10th in program history with their time of 45.58. In addition to Weaver,
Trent Jones also had a strong showing in the 400m with a time of 47.74, going under the 48-second mark for the second straight week.
Mehringer captured the 100m hurdles title for the fourth straight weekend, clocking a time of 13.52 to win by a tenth of a second. Mehringer owns the four fastest times in the MVC this season, all of which have been faster than 13.55. Mehringer wasn't the only hurdles athlete to put together a strong performance for the Blue and White, as
Collin Forrest placed second in the 110m hurdles (14.30) and
David Carnell earned sixth-place finishes in both the 110m hurdles (14.58) and 400m hurdles (54.98), the latter being a career-best time.
Jones,
Deangelo Hughey,
Caden Emmert and Weaver ran the four legs of Indiana State's third-place 4x400m relay team, which finished with a time of 3:16.69. The Syacmores' women's 4x400m relay of
Noelle Dilosa,
Halle Miller,
Kai Dilosa and
Kaylen Gustafson ran a time of 4:06.92.
Mid-Distance/Distance
Halle Miller had a strong day for the Sycamores, running Indiana State's fastest 800m time since the 2021 season with a career-best 2:12.90.
Emersyn Bland also added a career-best time of 2:18.89 to place in the top 20 in the event.
Miller wasn't the only Sycamore women's distance runner with a podium finish, as
Emma Gresham placed second in the 1500m with a time of 4:30.03 and
Gnister Grant placed third in her steeplechase debut with a time of 11:20.37.
Peyton Smith (4:40.00),
Alli Steffey (4:44.43) and
Emersyn Bland (4:45.04) all placed in the top 20 of the 1500m, with Steffey and Bland both running career-best times.
Jason Dworak picked up a first-place finish in the 1500m for the Blue and White, coming in at 3:48.75. Dworak's time was a half-second off his meet record time from last season, while
Ryan Handy finished in the top 15 with a career-best time of 3:59.04.
Xander Fackler placed in the top 10 of the 5000m with a career-best time of 15:18.52, while
Morgan Dyer also recorded a top-10 finish on the women's side with a time of 18:10.90.
Jumps
Will Staggs continued his winning ways in the pole vault, as the Sycamore All-American broke his own meet record by clearing 5.48m (17-11.75). Staggs further cemented himself with a top-15 mark in the nation this season in the event, while
Dan O'Laughlin cleared a career-best 4.90m (16-0.75) to place second in the open section of the event.
Brooklyn Pfaff won the women's invite section of the pole vault with her clearance of 3.95m (12-11.5), with
Amy Luttrell clearing 3.70m (12-1.5) to finish third in the invite section.
Kennedy Merrell cleared a season-best 3.75m (12-3.5) to finish second in the open section on the women's side.
Jahnel Bowman climbed up the program triple jump charts for the second straight weekend, making her final attempt in the triple jump count. Bowman's sixth attempt was a wind-legal 12.15m (39-10.5), giving her the event win and moving her to eighth in program history in the event.
Elijah McCauley had a top mark of 12.36m (40-6.75) on the men's side.
Janiya Bowman added another event win for the Blue and White, continuing her strong season in the long jump. Bowman's top mark was 5.75m (18-10.5), while
Piere Hill had the top mark on the men's side at 6.68m (21-11) to finish sixth. The Bowman sisters (Janiya and Jahnel) are the MVC leaders in the long jump and triple jump this season.
Noah Gilmore and
Ethan Widenhoefer both cleared 1.95m (6-4.75) in the high jump to earn top-10 finishes, with Widenhoefer and
Clark Thompson (1.90m/6-2.75) recording season-best clearances in the event.
Essence Johnson and
Kayla Douglas both cleared a season-best 1.60m (5-3) on the women's side, with Johnson finishing in the top 10.
Throws
Indiana State had a school record in a throws event broken for the second straight weekend, as
Wyatt Puff broke the program shot put record which had stood for nearly 20 years. Puff's mark of 18.47m (60-7.25) won him the invite section of the shot put and took down the previous program record of 18.40m (60-4.5) which was originally set in 2006 and matched in 2023.
Sloan Cox also moved his way up the program charts in the shot put, as his top mark of 17.97m (58-11.5) earned him a second-place finish in the invite section while putting him seventh in program history in the event.
Aliseonna Garnett had the top mark on the women's side, placing fourth in the invite section of the shot put at 14.91m (48-11).
Noah Bolt also added a career-best discus mark of 56.11m (184-1) to win the invite section of the event. Bolt's mark ranked fifth in program history in the event, while Puff placed right behind with a season-best mark of 55.06m (180-7).
Michael Good also broke the 50-meter barrier for the first time in his young career, finishing fifth in the open section with a mark of 50.01m (164-1). Garnett (47.67m/156-4) and
Emma Yoder (46.16m/151-5) both placed in the top five of the invite section of the women's discus.
Bolt also continued his consistent season in the hammer throw with a mark of 61.00m (200-1) to place second. It was Bolt's third time throwing at least 61 meters in the first four weeks of the 2025 outdoor season.
Olivia Marshall earned a third-place finish in the open section of the women's hammer with a career-best attempt of 49.63m (163-0).
A week after breaking her own school record in the javelin,
Lillian Gibbs earned a second-place finish in the event with a top mark of 43.87m (143-11).
Justin Miller had the top mark on the men's side at 45.83m (150-4).
Multis
Indiana State took part in the heptathlon and decathlon for the first time this season, with all three Sycamore decathletes placing in the top 10 and both heptathletes recording career-best totals.
Jake Ottersbach had the top finish among the Indiana State decathletes with a total of 6399 points to place fifth. Ottersbach had career-best performances in the 100m (10.98), long jump (7.10m/23-3.5), pole vault (4.05m/13-3.5) and javelin (43.67m/143-3) while also having the top high jump clearance in the field (1.88m/6-2).
Zenon Rule placed ninth with a total of 6169 points, more than 400 points better than his previous best. Rule had career bests in the long jump (6.50m/21-4), high jump (1.73m/5-8), 110m hurdles (15.34) and discus (31.70m/104-0) while clearing 4.35m (14-3.25) in the pole vault.
Ty Newsom finished with 6105 points to place 10th. Newsom's career-best total was aided by career-best marks in the 100m (11.04), 400m (51.15), 110m hurdles (16.10), discus (31.61m/103-8) and 1500m (5:05.97).
Kathryn Ison placed 12th in the heptathlon in her event debut, leading the Sycamore contingent with 4355 points. Ison had career-best marks of 14.79 in the 100m hurdles, 9.54m (31-3.75) in the shot put, 26.73 in the 200m and 28.23m (92-7) in the javelin.
Chloe Rolen also had a career-best total of 4326 to earn a top-half finish. Rolen had career-best marks in the 100m hurdles (15.21), long jump (5.22m/17-1.5) and javelin (27.36m/89-9).
Up Next
Indiana State has a split-squad weekend on deck, with the Sycamores sending a contingent to both the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, and the Clark Wood Invitational in Louisville, Kentucky.
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