ST. LOUIS – Indiana State junior hurdler Rachel Mehringer and sophomore jumper Jahnel Bowman combined to sweep the MVC Women's Track and Field Athlete of the Week honors, the league office announced Wednesday afternoon.
 
Mehringer was tabbed MVC Women's Track Athlete of the Week, while Bowman was named MVC Women's Field Athlete of the Week after the Sycamore duo produced conference-leading marks in their respective events during Indiana State's home-opening meet.
 
Mehringer continued her blistering start to the season at the Pacesetter Sports Invitational, clocking a wind-legal 100m hurdles time of 13.20 to take first place in the event. She finished as the only athlete in the field under the 14-second mark, winning by more than eight-tenths of a second while running the second-fastest wind-legal time in Gibson Track and Field Complex history behind only her conference record time from last year. Mehringer's top time this season is nearly three-tenths of a second faster than her top times at this point during her 2025 Second Team All-America campaign. She owns the top 100 hurdles time in the MVC by more than seven-tenths of a second with the only times in the conference under 13.9, a feat she has already accomplished twice with times of 13.29 at Eastern Illinois and 13.20 in the home opener. Mehringer's time also ranks third in the Great Lakes Region, 12th in NCAA East Qualifying and 18th nationally, making her the highest-ranked women's track and field athlete in the conference and the only female athlete in the conference to own a top-20 national ranking.
 
Bowman put together an outdoor career-best performance in the triple jump at the Pacesetter Sports Invitational, winning the competition by nearly a full meter with her wind-legal mark of 12.62m (41-5). She also produced a mark of 12.57m (41-3) during the competition, with her performance in the home opener representing the top two marks in the MVC this season. Bowman's mark in the home opener moved her up to fourth in program history in the triple jump among wind-legal marks and sixth in program history among all-conditions marks. In addition to owning the top mark in the conference by more than two feet with the only marks in the MVC above 12 meters, she also ranks third in the Great Lakes Region, 29th in NCAA East Qualifying and 54th nationally in the triple jump. Bowman also owns a top-five long jump mark in the conference from the season opener at Eastern Illinois (5.79m/19-0).
 
Mehringer's weekly honor is her first of the 2026 outdoor season and her 10th MVC Athlete of the Week award (one outdoor 2026, one indoor 2025-26, two outdoor 2025, three indoor 2024-25, one outdoor 2024, two indoor 2023-24). Bowman's MVC Women's Field Athlete of the Week honor is the second of her career, having also earned the accolade once during the 2025-26 indoor season. Indiana State's MVC Women's Track and Field Athlete of the Week sweep marked the first two weekly honors for the Sycamores during the 2026 outdoor season. 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 hits the road Friday for the Crimson Tide Invitational, a one-day meet in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
 
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