By Tyler Wooten
GoSycamores.com
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – Indiana State's women's distance squad made history yet again as they dismantled another long-standing ISU record to lead the Sycamores to a solid first day of the Meyo Invite, hosted by the University of Notre Dame inside the Loftus Sports Center.
The women's distance medley relay – ran by sophomore Brittany Neeley (1200 meter), freshman Ahmanah Woods (400), sophomore Aleksey Green (800) and sophomore Jessi Conley (mile) – combined for a stellar effort to break the old school record by two seconds at 11:45.04 (the previous record of 11:47.90 was set in 2005). ISU finished sixth overall in the event and won Heat One by a commanding eight seconds.
The relay started off with a superhuman effort by Neeley in the 1200. Neeley, an IU transfer, started off in the middle of the pack before an extraordinary kick to explode to a commanding lead by the end of the first lap – en route to a 3:33 split for her leg. Woods took the handoff with a commanding lead and kept it there with a strong 56.9 split in the 400, followed by two impressive efforts out of Green (2:15) and Conley (4:59) in the 800 and mile.
Tonight's record continues an impressive season for the Sycamore women's distance squad under the guidance of assistant coach Kyle Walsh and head women's coach Angela Martin. Just two weeks ago they helped bring down the school record in the 4x800 and numerous active Sycamores rank high on the all-time list in the mile, 3K and 5K races.
Speaking of the 5K, sophomore Taylor Austin became the latest example of such success with an impressive race Friday evening. Austin finished seventh overall at 17:00.90, the third-best time in Indiana State history – trailing Nicole Lucas' 2015 record by less than eight seconds (16:52.94).
ISU's success on the track didn't stop there Friday evening. Three Sycamores advanced to semifinals in the 60 meter hurdles and put themselves in good position to do some serious damage on Saturday afternoon.
Senior All-American Adarius Washington ran his best time of the season at 7.85 for the second-best prelim time – besting the 7.86 he's run each of the last two weeks. Junior Marcus Neely remained solid at sub-8.00 with a third-place finish at 7.98 second; last week, Neely jumped into the all-time top-10 with a 7.91 and 7.99 at UNI. Fellow junior Daley Carter will join them in the semifinals after finishing 14th at 8.23.
Other successes on the track include sophomore Scott Schreiber advancing to semifinals in the 60-meter dash after finishing 17th at 6.95 seconds, as well as junior Carl McQuay's 10th-place finish in the 200 meter at a season-best time of 21.96. That time for McQuay currently ranks No. 9 in the MVC this season, but should inch higher after a conversion in applied.
Junior jumper Devyn Mikell had another strong outing in the long jump, finishing fourth overall at 7.38m (24-02.50). Mikell owns the Valley's second-best leap this indoor season at 7.47m (24-06.50) recorded last week at UNI.
Competition resumes at Notre Dame tomorrow morning with women's 3,000 meter race at 9:45 a.m.
For the latest information on the Sycamore Track and Field team, make sure to check out GoSycamores.com. You can also find the team on social media including Facebook and Twitter.
