By Tyler Wooten
GoSycamores.com
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Indiana State currently sits in third in the men's standings and fifth in the women's following a strong second day of the 2016 MVC Outdoor Championships at home on Saturday, which included one individual MVC champion and four total All-MVC competitors.
Sophomore Taylor Austin, just one year after finishing third as a freshman, came away from Saturday as Indiana State's first women's 3,000-meter steeplechase victor since 2001 (Annie Gasway) following an incredible race. In front of ESPN3 cameras, Austin took control of the lead in the early laps of the race and never let go, pushing the pace to where the two ranked ahead of her on the conference performance list – Illinois State's Kelly McShea and Wichita State's Sidney Hirsch – could not catch her.
Austin won the race at a new school-record time of 10:17.70, breaking her old record of 10:18.28 set at NC State earlier this season. With the win, Austin becomes Indiana State's second-ever women's steeplechase champion after Gasway's win in 2001.
Also scoring in the steeple was freshman Taylor Rogers, who finished eighth at a new PR time of 11:15.68 – narrowly missing out on cracking the all-time top-10.
ISU also received three very strong performances in the field that earned All-MVC nods on the men's side of competition. The Sycamores received 14 points total in the men's long jump following a 2-3 finish by sophomore Scott Schreiber and junior Devyn Mikell. Schreiber hit a season-best 7.35m (24-01.50) to finish as the runner-up, while Mikell wasn't far being at 7.32m (24-00.25) in third.
Senior Jamar Brown fought back from some nagging injuries this outdoor season to repeat as an All-MVC shot putter. The Indianapolis native and indoor runner-up finished third overall at an outdoor PR toss of 17.45m (57-03.00), which registers him as the ninth-best shot putter in school history outdoors. It also pushes him to 37th in the East Region this year.
The women's shot putters also had a good day, keeping the momentum the Sycamore female throwers have had as of late. Freshman Cassaundra Roper scored in her second MVC shot put competition in as many tries, finishing fourth at an outdoor PR toss of 15.04m (49-04.25) – which pushes her to eighth all-time and to No. 42 on the East Region list.
Senior Katelyn Rutz also had a career-day in the shot, scoring for the seventh time in her ISU career in fifth place at an outdoor PR of 14.97m (49-01.50) – the ninth-best throw in school history.
ISU had a handful of other scorers on Day Two: Jaime Murtagh (fourth, 2.11m/6-11.00) and DeSean Prentice (fifth, 2.06m/6-09.00) in the men's high jump; LeVisa Evans in the women's high jump (sixth, 1.65m/5-05.00); and Logan Hambrock in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (sixth, 9:12.65).
Indiana State also have several qualify for more finals to be run on the third and final day of the championships on Sunday. ISU put three through to the final in the 110-meter hurdles: senior All-American and NCAA No. 1-ranked Adarius Washington (first, 13.81), junior Marcus Neely (second, 14.10) and sophomore Jacob Wright (14.37).
Junior All-American David Timlin added another final to his busy day on Sunday after finishing second in the 800-meter qualifying at 1:52.38.
Junior sprinter Tyrell Dowdell had a historic day in his qualifying berth in the men's 400. Dowdell finished fourth in qualifying after exploding to a huge PR time of 47.28 seconds, the fifth-fastest 400 in school history.
Other finals qualifiers include: Scott Schreiber in the men's 100-meter dash (seventh, 10.73), Ahmanah Woods in the women's 400-meter dash (eighth, 56.37) and Arqeil Shaw in the men's 400-meter hurdles (53.78).
Competition at the final day of the MVC Championships begins at noon with the beginning of the field events, following by the national anthem at 12:50 and the beginning of the running events at 1:00.
Women's Day Two Team Scores (through nine events scored):
1. Wichita State – 123.50
2. Illinois State – 48.50
3. Northern Iowa – 48
4. Southern Illinois – 46
5. Indiana State – 31
6. Bradley – 19
7. Missouri State – 14.50
8. Drake – 12.50
9. Loyola – 8
Men's Day Two Team Scores (through eight events scored):
1. Wichita State – 128
2. Southern Illinois – 61
3. Indiana State – 36
4. Northern Iowa – 31
5. Illinois State – 18
5. Bradley – 18
7. Drake – 16
8. Loyola – 4
Day Two MVC Champions:
Taylor Austin – 3,000-Meter Steeplechase
Day Two All-MVC:
Taylor Austin – 3,000-Meter Steeplechase, First Place
Scott Schreiber – Long Jump, Second Place
Jamar Brown – Shot Put, Third Place
Devyn Mikell – Long Jump, Third Place
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.
