McLean County Times

Illinois State University's track and field athletes, Amiri Buchanan and Mattison Plummer, are set to compete at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The event will take place at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, starting Wednesday afternoon.

Buchanan and Plummer earned their spots in the national competition following impressive performances at the NCAA West Preliminary Round held in Arkansas two weeks ago. Buchanan is scheduled to compete on Wednesday night, while Plummer will take part in the women's events on Thursday.

For those interested in watching, ESPN2's coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. CT on day one. Additionally, specific links for field events and multis will be available on ESPN+.

Amiri Buchanan is competing in the shot put event on Wednesday at 8:40 PM CT. He secured his place by achieving a mark of 18.58m (60-11.50) during the preliminaries in Arkansas, finishing 12th overall. Previously, he qualified for this round with a throw of 19.12m (62-8.75) at the Badger Challenge and won the MVC Outdoor Championships with a first-place mark of 19.29m (63-3.5), which ranks third best in Illinois State's history.

Mattison Plummer will participate in the 3,000m steeplechase on Thursday at 8:00 PM CT. She finished seventh overall at the preliminary round with a personal-best time of 10:11.55, moving her to sixth place on Illinois State's all-time list for this event. Her qualification came after winning first place at the Drake Relays with a time of 10:12.83.

The Illinois State community can find more information about tickets and other related content through GoRedbirds.com and the Illinois State Redbirds App.