McLean County Times

The Illinois Wesleyan University men's and women's track and field teams are set to participate in the Augustana Midwest Twilight Qualifier in Rock Island, Illinois. The event is scheduled for May 15-16, just one week before the NCAA Division III National Championships. The teams aim to secure qualifying marks.

Currently, IWU has several athletes who would qualify for the national championship if it were held today. These include freshman triple jumper Imani Ogunribido from Hanover Park, junior hammer thrower Carlyssa King from Decatur, sophomore sprinter Evan Lowder from Bloomington, and the men's 4-by-400m relay team comprising Lowder, freshmen Tyrice Bender and Reece Dusek from Peoria, and junior Alex Harvey from Galesburg.

Ogunribido's performance at the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin meet broke a record with a jump of 12.30 meters, ranking her sixth in Division III this season. King achieved a personal best of 53.05 meters in the hammer throw, placing her 19th nationally. Lowder's time of 47.14 seconds in the 400 meters ranks him 12th nationally.

The men's relay team recorded a time of 3:13.47, making them the ninth-fastest "A" team when excluding "B" teams from qualification lists. The top 16 "A" relay teams advance to NCAAs.

Additionally, sophomore Isaac Whitaker will compete in the men's pole vault at Augustana College. He previously set his personal best of 4.73 meters during an earlier meet at Augustana's complex on April 20 and is tied for 38th nationally.

The Titans' events begin with the women's hammer throw on Wednesday at 1 p.m., followed by men's pole vault at 6 p.m. On Thursday, action starts with the women's triple jump at noon and concludes with the relay at 8 p.m. Live results will be available online.