McLean County Times

At the conclusion of the second day of the Gibson Invitational, hosted by Indiana State University, senior Lauren Huber from Illinois Wesleyan University delivered a standout performance in the heptathlon. Competing in a Division I heavy event, Huber secured fifth place and achieved the second-highest heptathlon score in Illinois Wesleyan's history with 4821 points. Her score is only 244 points behind the current school record, held since 2015 by Allie Boudreau, and is ranked fourth in Division III for this season.

Initially positioned seventh after a robust first day's events, Huber's day two began with the long jump, which saw her slip four places. However, she recovered in the javelin and 800-meter events, regaining her rank to finish fifth. In the javelin, Huber's throw of 38.88 meters secured victory with a comfortable margin, while her time of 2:17.41 in the 800 meters was six seconds faster than the next competitor. Over the course of the heptathlon, Huber set personal bests in six of the seven events and broke into Illinois Wesleyan’s top-10 lists for high jump, shot put, javelin, and the heptathlon.

Additional athletes for Illinois Wesleyan included freshman Jayden Mangruem, junior Ashtin Elder, and senior Caitlin McCane, who competed in the javelin throw. Elder achieved a 13th place finish with a distance of 39.46 meters, while Mangruem finished 15th with 37.97 meters. McCane placed 11th in the women's javelin with a throw of 34.66 meters.

The Illinois Wesleyan team continues to compete at the Gibson Invitational, with events set to commence on Saturday, April 19, at the Gibson Track and Field Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana.