McLean County Times

The Illinois State Track & Field program concluded the Music City Challenge in Nashville with a record-breaking performance. Over two days, 15 athletes from Illinois State made it onto the program's top-10 list for their respective events, marking the highest number of entries in any meet this season.

The men's 4x400m relay team, consisting of Nwagwu, Paul, Ward, and Welch, set a new school record with a time of 3:10.44. This achievement follows their previous record set at the Dr. Rick McGuire Invitational in January.

Freshman Reece Curtis made his mark by entering the top-10 list with a time of 6.73 in the men's 60m dash, becoming the third Redbird freshman to achieve this feat this season.

In the women's events, Junior Erin Starks and Senior Corrina Courser improved their top-10 times in the 60m hurdles to sit third and fourth in Illinois State history. Junior Jake Welch moved to seventh place in Redbird history for the 400m dash with a time of 47.42.

Junior Mattison Plummer and Sophomore Grace Erb earned top-10 marks in the women's 800m event. Plummer now holds top-10 times across three indoor events: the 800m, Mile, and 3000m. Meanwhile, Erb added her name to the Mile top-10 list on Friday afternoon.

Junior Maggie Reed joined Plummer as one of two Redbirds to enter the top-10 list for the 3000m this season with a time of 4:41.95.

Freshman Julian Baker had an impressive weekend with strong performances in both the mile and 800m events. He achieved a personal best in the 800m by improving his time by six seconds.

Looking ahead, "The Redbirds return home on Friday, Feb. 21 with the Redbird Tune-Up."