The Illinois State women's track and field team took home a Missouri Valley Conference trophy, as they were the runner-up Champions with a total of 119 points. The men finished fourth with a total of 92 points, which is the highest the men have finished in the past two years.
Wichita's men and women captured first place with 181 points on the women's side and 146 on the men's side. For the men, Southern Illinois were the runners-up with a total of 108.
Amanda McClain was one of the top-competitor for the women, as she was the highest scorer for the Redbirds with a total of 21.5 points. She went two-for-two on the weekend in the women’s long jump and the 400-meter dash. McClain was the MVC Champion in the long jump with an all-time personal-best long jump with a mark at 6.17m (20-03.00), which is the new indoor school record. She also notched her second MVC title in the women’s 400-meter with another all-time personal-best time of 54.64.
Freshman Derrius Rodgers had an incredible weekend, as he punched his ticket to nationals in the 60-meter dash. Rodgers ran a time of 6.64 placing second overall next to UNI's Brandon Carnes who was the Valley Champion at a time of 6.60. Rodgers' time is tied for 12th on the national descending list. The top-16 times in each event qualify for nationals.
Rodgers is the first 60-meter Illinois State track and field student-athlete to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in school history. The last time a Redbird qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships was back during the 2013-14 season, when Curt Jensen qualified in the men's shot put.
D'Jenne Egharevba had stellar performances, as she captured a MVC title in the 200-meter dash, finishing first with a personal-best time of 24.26. She also scored points for the Redbirds in the 60-meter, as she placed fourth with a personal-best time of 7.48, which is second fastest time in ISU history.
The women had phenomenal performances in the shot put, as the Redbirds scored 17 points. Morgan Keller had a strong performance, with a second-place finish and capturing All-MVC honors with a mark at 14.60m (47-10.75). Brandy Thomas placed fourth with a toss at 14.50m (47.07.00), followed by Kassie Hoyme who captured an impressive PR mark at 14.31m (46-11.50).
James Brandenburg had an incredible weekend in the men's heptathlon. He captured All-Valley honors by placing third with a personal-best score of 5,185 point. Brandenburg posted three personal-best and one season-best out of seven events. He captured a PR in the long jump (7.28m/23-10.75), shot put (11.51m/37-09.25) and 60-meter dash (7.09). He also posted a season-best in the high jump with a height at 1.90m (6-02.75).
Senior Haley Becker notched All-MVC honors in the high jump with a third-place finish at a height of 1.62m (5-03.25).
Ben Montgomery had a spectacular performance in the men's 400, as he captured his first MVC title with a time of 47.57.
Montgomery notched his second MVC title in the men's 4x400, as the quartet of Jordan Wilkerson (50.7), Justin Agustin (49.8), Rodgers (48.2) and Montgomery (47.8) worked their way to the top after being in a fourth-place deficit. Each leg ran incredible splits to inch the team to the top. Then, Montgomery was able to beat UNI's Luke Johnston for the win with a time of 3:16.64.
