The Illinois State Redbirds track and field team will conclude its regular season at the Illini Last Chance meet on Friday at the UI Armory in Champaign, Illinois. Field events are scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Central Time, with track events starting at noon. Live results will be available online.
The competition will feature athletes from Illinois State, host school University of Illinois, and Eastern Illinois. The University of Illinois women’s team has held the top national ranking for four consecutive weeks, while the men’s team is ranked 16th nationally. The women’s squad includes eight athletes who are among the top five in their respective events such as long jump, high jump, triple jump, weight throw, and pentathlon. The men’s team has two athletes ranked in the top five nationally in heptathlon and two others in the top ten for pole vault and triple jump.
According to recent U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (#EventSquad) rankings for the 2025-26 indoor season released on February 17, several Redbird event groups are recognized among the nation’s best. The ISU men’s shot put group is ranked seventh nationally with freshmen Zach Cowper and Jo Atkins joining juniors Jacob Klink and Garrett Taylor. The men’s high jump group holds a tenth-place ranking with freshman Voldy Makabu, senior Rob Pulliam, junior Kaden Stewart, and sophomore Trey Thomas. In sprints, the men’s 60m dash group is ranked 22nd with Zach Paul, Reece Curtis, Jaiden Reed, and Enyinnaya Nwagwu competing. On the women’s side, seniors Macee Rivers and Erin Starks along with juniors Nya Browne and Cambria Geyer make up a hurdles group that ranks fifteenth nationally.
Several Redbird athletes have recently moved up in program record books due to performances at meets including the GVSU Big Meet and Blue Demon Alumni Classic. Macee Rivers advanced to second all-time in women’s 60m hurdles (8.30 seconds), while Nya Browne moved to third (8.32). Becca Heitzig improved her second-place time in the women’s 800m (2:06.93), leading all Missouri Valley Conference competitors this season. Mattison Plummer set a personal best of 9:27.60 in the women’s 3000m to move from seventh to fourth all-time at ISU.
Julian Baker recorded a winning time of 14:08.09 in the men’s 5000m at GVSU Big Meet—placing him sixth on ISU’s all-time list—and Isabelle Hemmen tied for eighth all-time indoors in pole vault with a mark of 3.75 meters.
Recent news highlights include Becca Heitzig’s gold medal performance in the women’s 800m at Blue Demon Alumni Invite (2:06.93), continued record improvements by Rivers (second) and Browne (third) in women’s hurdles last weekend, as well as victories by Will Gelon, Julian Baker, and Vivana Sanfilippo each winning their respective 5000m races at GVSU Big Meet.
The men’s 4x400m relay squad broke both school and facility records at Windy City Invitational earlier this month with sophomores Zach Paul and Reece Curtis joining seniors Jake Welch and Enyinnaya Nwagwu for a finish of 3:09.18.
Seth Nelson set a new school record in men’s pole vault (5.30 meters) during competition on January 24—a mark that remains atop MVC standings this season—while Zach Paul improved his own second-best program time in men’s 60m dash from 6.67 to 6.66 seconds.
Heitzig joined Mattison Plummer and Pauline Schedler atop ISU history books by sweeping first through third place finishes in women’s 1000m during January’s Larry Wieczorek Invitational; she also won her debut mile run as a Redbird earlier this year with a meet-record time of 4:49.23.
Illinois State returned victorious after defeating Indiana State for possession of Coughlan-Malloy Cup on January 17—the first win since its return following a two-year hiatus.
Illinois State Redbirds benefit from resources such as the Redbird Athletics Excellence Fund, which supports competitiveness and recruitment efforts across programs linked to Illinois State University. Student-athletes prepare using facilities like the OSF HealthCare Athletics Training Center as part of NCAA Division I competition throughout various regions (source). Fans can find news updates, schedules, rosters, ticket information, merchandise details—and more—at GoRedbirds.com or via official social media channels.
