TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State track and field takes its talents on the road Friday, with the Sycamores set to compete in the Crimson Tide Invitational in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Action for the Sycamores in the single-day meet will start with the long jump at 4:30 p.m., while the first events on the track for the Blue and White will be the 100 and 110 hurdles starting at 5 p.m.
Last Time Out
Competing at the Gibson Track and Field Complex for the first time this outdoor season, Indiana State overcame multiple delays and poor weather to post strong early-season results Friday and Saturday at the Pacesetter Sports Invitational.
Sycamore athletes produced 16 first-place finishes during their first home meet of the season, including sweeps in the 200m, 100 and 110m hurdles, pole vault and long jump. The Trees racked up 35 top-three finishes as a team while finishing in first place on both sides, with 193 points on the men's side and 214 on the women's side.
Trent Jones,
Jahnel Bowman,
Emma Yoder and
Cora Williams all recorded program top-10 marks in events during the course of the weekend, while
Rachel Mehringer broke the meet record in the 100m hurdles.
Weekly Winners
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).
Among The Best
Indiana State features a pair of event groups which rank in the top 10 nationally in the most recent set of USTFCCCA EventSquad rankings, with the Sycamore men's 110m hurdles and women's hammer throw groups both sitting among the nation's best heading into Friday's meet.
The 110m hurdles contingent of
Collin Forrest (14.07),
Kieran Barnewall (14.11),
David Carnell (14.14) and
Parker Doyle (14.34) is the highest-ranked group of any MVC school in any event, with their collective average of 14.16 ranked third nationally behind only Texas State and Iowa.
Indiana State's women's hammer throw quartet of
Emma Yoder (57.81m/189-7),
Cora Williams (57.16/187-6),
Aliseonna Garnett (53.26m/174-8) and OIivia Marshall (52.60/172-6) ranks seventh nationally with their average of 55.21m (181-1) behind only Cal, Virginia, Ole Miss, Colorado State, Miami (Fla.) and Akron.
The Sycamores are one of just two schools in the Missouri Valley Conference with multiple event groups ranked in the top 10 nationally, along with Bradley (women's 5000m, men's 800m).
Climbing The Charts
Indiana State's home-opening meet, the Pacesetter Sports Invitational, saw four Sycamores work their way up the program top-10 charts, including program top-five marks from
Trent Jones in the 400m and
Jahnel Bowman in the triple jump.
Jones recorded the best 400m time by a Sycamore since 2007, crossing the line in 47.02 to move into fourth in program history. Bowman also moved up to fourth in program history in the triple jump, with her wind-legal mark of 12.62m (41-5) being the best by an Indiana State athlete since 2023.
Yoder and Williams both set their program top-10 marks in the hammer throw, with Yoder's mark of 57.81m (189-7) moving her up to eighth in program history and Williams' top throw of 57.16m (187-6) putting her 10th in the program ranks.
Back For More
Indiana State's last time in Tuscaloosa saw plenty of success for the Blue and White, as 10 Sycamores moved up the program best lists at the 2025 Crimson Tide Invitational.
The Trees took home six first-place finishes, four of which came in field events. Indiana State got first-place finishes on the track from
Rachel Mehringer (100m hurdles) and
Ryan Handy (3000m steeplechase), while
Will Staggs (pole vault),
Justice Boston (triple jump),
Wyatt Puff (discus) and
Aliseonna Garnett (discus) picked up wins in field events for the Blue and White.
Indiana State's distance crew accounted for six of the Sycamores' 10 program top-10 marks set over the course of the meet, putting together its best outdoor meet of the season.
Ivan Weaver (400m),
Erica Barker (1500m), Handy (3000m steeplechase),
Alli Steffey (3000m steeplechase),
Brittney Burak (5000m),
Peyton Smith (5000m),
Emerson Fayman (5000m),
Justice Boston (triple jump),
Noah Bolt (hammer throw) and
Lillian Gibbs (javelin) all moved their way up the program top-10 lists.
In addition to the strong marks from the distance runners, Gibbs broke the school record in the javelin for the second time that season, something she accomplished two more occasions in 2025. Numerous Indiana State athletes put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the NCAA East First Round, with the Sycamores later qualifying a conference-leading 16 entries for the regional round.
Up Next
Indiana State returns to the friendly confines of the John McNichols Memorial Track at the Gibson Track and Field Complex April 16-18 for the 2026 Gibson Invitational. Competition in the heptathlon and decathlon will take place April 16-17, with all other events contested April 17-18.
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For the latest information on the Sycamore Track & Field and Cross Country teams, make sure to check out
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