TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Four Indiana State track and field athletes will compete against the best young talent in the nation Thursday and Friday at the 2025 USATF U20 Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
Freshmen distance runners
Gnister Grant and
Peyton Smith, and freshmen throwers
Olivia Marshall and
Emma Yoder will represent the Blue and White at Heyward Field.
Smith leads off the competition in the 5000m Thursday at 12:15 p.m. ET (9:15 a.m. PT), while Grant will compete in the 3000m steeplechase Thursday at 8:33 p.m. ET (5:33 p.m. PT). Yoder will pull double-duty Thursday in the throws events, competing in the hammer throw at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) and the discus at 5:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. PT), while Marshall closes out the week for the Trees Friday at 6:30 p.m. ET (3:30 p.m. PT) in the shot put.
Event Format
All five events which feature the Sycamores will consist of the top 16 declared athletes in each event, with each consisting of one heat (track events) or flight (field events). In the throws events, each athlete will have three attempts with the top nine advancing to finals and earning three additional attempts.
Title-Winning Trees
Each of the four athletes who will represent the Blue and White at the 2025 USATF U20 Championships played a significant role for the Trees during the recent season, which saw Indiana State named the 2024-25 MVC Women's Cross Country/Track and Field Program of the Year.
Grant and Smith were both part of Indiana State's runner-up finish at the 2024 MVC Cross Country Championships, the Sycamores' highest finish in women's cross country since 1997. Smith carded a top-20 finish at the MVC Cross Country Championships and was one of Indiana State's five scorers in its top-10 finish at the NCAA Great Lakes Regional, while Grant was in the top 40 at the conference meet.
Grant, Marshall, Smith and Yoder were all on Indiana State's 2025 MVC Indoor and Outdoor Championship-winning rosters, with all three of the four Sycamores scoring points during the Trees' track and field title-winning run. Marshall scored in the shot put at both the indoor and outdoor championships, Grant was a part of the Trees' distance medley relay team at the indoor championships and Yoder won the discus throw at the outdoor championships.
How They Got Here
Peyton Smith quickly made her mark within the Indiana State cross country and track and field program, cracking the top 10 in program history in the 4K (ninth, 14:38), 5K (eighth, 17:32) and 6K (fifth, 20:55) as just a freshman. Smith also added top-10 times in program history in the 5000m run during both the indoor (ninth, 17:16.33) and outdoor (ninth, 17:02.95) track and field seasons, with her time of 17:02.95 at Alabama in April earning her a spot in Thursday's USATF U20 Championship race. She also carded a top-10 finish in the event at the MVC Outdoor Championships, and placed in the top 20 at the MVC Cross Country Championships.
Gnister Grant also etched her name in the program record books during her first season as a Sycamore, finishing with top-20 times in program history in both the 4K (13th, 14:49) and 6K (16th, 21:46) in her debut season with the Blue and White. She also performed well in relay events for the Trees during the track and field season, featuring in the Sycamores' ninth-ranked indoor distance medley relay team in program history (11:52.20) and third-ranked outdoor 4x1600m relay in program history (19:59.08). Grant earned her spot in Thursday's USATF U20 Championship field for the steeplechase with her time of 11:12.40 which came at Indiana State in May. She has gone under the 11:20 mark in the event in each of her last two appearances.
Marshall played a significant role for Indiana State in a strong season for the Sycamore throwers, scoring at the MVC Indoor Championships and earning a pair of top-10 finishes at the MVC Outdoor Championships. Her top shot put mark of 14.66m (48-1.25), which came at Indiana State in May, earned her a spot in Friday's USATF U20 Championship field. Marshall placed in the top 10 in the MVC in four of the five events she contested between the indoor and outdoor championships, putting together one of the most consistent seasons for a Sycamore freshman thrower. She also had a season-best discus mark of 39.79m (130-6) at the MVC Championships, and has gone over 49 meters in the hammer throw three different times, with her best mark being 49.68m (168-0) in April at Indiana State.
Yoder had a debut season to remember with the Sycamores, culminating in an MVC Championship in the discus and MVC Freshman of the Year accolades for the outdoor track and field season. She became the first Sycamore to win the conference title in the event since
Erin Reese in 2019 with her season-best mark of 48.38m (158-9), and also scored points for the Blue and White in the hammer throw with a toss of 51.10m (167-8), finishing with double-digit points at the outdoor championships. Yoder's MVC Championship mark in the discus qualified her for the USATF U20 Championships in the event, and she also secured a spot in the hammer throw with her top mark mark of 51.60m (169-3), which was set at Indiana State in May.
Championship Implications
A Gold Medal, emblematic of the U20 Championships of the United States of America, will be given to the winner of each Championship event, a Silver Medal to second place, and Bronze Medals to third through sixth places.
The top two athletes in each event have traditionally earned a spot on Team USA for the Pan-American U20 Championships, with the third-place finisher serving as an alternate. However, USATF recently announced that the federation will not send a delegation to this year's Pan-American U20 Championships in Colombia.
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
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Twitter. Fans can also receive updates on Sycamore Athletics by downloading the March On App from the both the
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