ST. LOUIS – Indiana State senior sprinter Trent Jones and junior hurdler Rachel Mehringer combined to sweep the MVC Track Athlete of the Week honors, the league office announced Wednesday afternoon.
 
Jones was named MVC Men's Track Athlete of the Week, while Mehringer was tabbed MVC Women's Track Athlete of the Week for a second straight week following standout performances from the two Sycamores at the Crimson Tide Invitational.
 
Jones posted the best performances of his career at the Crimson Tide Invitational, becoming the first Sycamore in nearly 20 years to break the 47-second mark in the 400m while also running a career-best anchor leg in the 4x400m relay. His career-best 400m time of 46.97 ranked in the top five among collegiate times at the meet and also placed him fourth in school history in the event. Jones followed by anchoring Indiana State's season-best 4x400m relay team, running a career-best split of 45.98 as the Trees clocked a collective time of 3:14.00. The Crawfordsville, Indiana, native has run his two best 400m times in back-to-back weeks, after previously clocking a time of 47.02 at the Pacesetter Sports Invitational. Jones' 400m time currently ranks second in the MVC, 10th in the Great Lakes Region and 82nd in NCAA East Region Qualifying, while the Sycamores' 4x400m relay ranks fourth in the MVC and seventh in the Great Lakes Region.
 
Mehringer's assault on the program and conference record books carried on at the Crimson Tide Invitational, as the 2025 Second Team All-American matched her own Indiana State and MVC record time of 13.04 Friday. Mehringer cruised to another first-place finish, crossing the line more than two-tenths of a second ahead of the field which featured three SEC athletes and three more in NCAA East Region Qualifying spots.  The Schnellville, Indiana, native owns the top three times in the MVC this season (13.04, 13.20, 13.29), with her record-tying time being more than six-tenths of a second faster than anyone in the MVC. She also owns the top wind-legal time in the conference by nearly a full second. In addition to leading the conference in the event, Mehringer ranks first in the Great Lakes Region, seventh in NCAA East Region Qualifying and 10th nationally in the event this season.
 
Jones' weekly honor is the first of his career. Mehringer's weekly honor is her second straight of the 2026 outdoor season and her 11th MVC Athlete of the Week award (two outdoor 2026, one indoor 2025-26, two outdoor 2025, three indoor 2024-25, one outdoor 2024, two indoor 2023-24). Indiana State's MVC Track Athlete of the Week sweep marked the third and fourth weekly honors for the Sycamores during the 2026 outdoor season and the second straight week with multiple Indiana State athletes earning MVC accolades. Sycamore athletes earned 12 MVC Athlete of the Week accolades during the 2025-26 indoor season, with multiple MVC weekly winners on five separate occasions (Dec. 17, Jan. 21, Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 26).
 
Indiana State returns to the friendly confines of the John McNichols Memorial Track at the Gibson Track and Field Complex Thursday through Saturday for the 2026 Gibson Invitational. Competition in the heptathlon and decathlon will take place Thursday and Friday, with all other events contested Friday and Saturday.
 
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