The Illinois State track and field team will begin its 2026 outdoor season by hosting the first annual Joyce Morton-Kief Invite at the Redbird Track & Field Complex, with events starting March 27. The meet will feature over ten schools, including Illinois-Chicago, Marquette, UW-Milwaukee, DePaul, Monmouth College, Northern Illinois and Illinois Wesleyan.
The event honors former head coach and faculty member Joyce Morton-Kief. She is recognized for her significant impact on the university’s track and field and cross country programs. Kief led teams to multiple state championships as well as conference titles in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. She also coached more than forty NCAA and AIAW Championship qualifiers during her career.
Coach Kief began working at Illinois State in 1966 as a faculty member in the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance. She volunteered to coach women’s track before expanding into other areas such as cross country and indoor track. Her leadership was instrumental during a period of growth for women’s collegiate athletics at the university.
Thirteen seniors from the program will be recognized on Saturday for their contributions: JaNaysia Bird, Isabelle Hemmen, Lindsey Miller, Abigail Milott, Star Mpama, Enyinnaya Nwagwu Jr., Mattison Plummer, Maggie Reed, Macee Rivers, Jacob Rollins, Viviana Sanfilippo, Erin Starks and Jake Welch.
Head coach Jeff Bovee said about beginning the outdoor season: “We’ve been picking up the volume over the last few weeks. We feel really excited about the prospects of the outdoor season…where we have a lot of quality student athletes who will be able to make a nice impact.” On naming the meet after Coach Kief he said: “Joyce is part of the fabric of this athletics department…She’s integral in women’s athletics and has had a tremendous amount of success in development and mentorship of young women throughout her time…we’re really honored to name this meet on her behalf.”
According to the official website, href=’https://goredbirds.com/‘ Illinois State Redbirds benefits from resources like news updates for fans as well as support through initiatives such as Redbird Athletics Excellence Fund that help competitiveness and recruitment efforts href=’https://goredbirds.com/‘. The program is linked with Illinois State University href=’https://goredbirds.com/’; it competes in NCAA Division I events across various regions href=’https://goredbirds.com/’; utilizes facilities like OSF HealthCare Athletics Training Center for athlete preparation href=’https://goredbirds.com/’; offers news coverage along with schedules and rosters href=’https://goredbirds.com/’; while its men’s basketball team recently posted one of its best starts with an 8-2 record href=’https://goredbirds.com/‘.
The Joyce Morton-Kief Invite marks both a new chapter for ISU’s spring athletic calendar while celebrating decades-long contributions by an influential figure within its community.
