McLean County Times

The Illinois State track and field teams concluded their participation in the 2025 MVC Outdoor Track & Field Championship at the Lew Hartzog Track & Field Complex, securing runner-up finishes for both men's and women's squads. The men's team accumulated 151 points, while the women's team gathered 116 points over the two-day event.

Freshman Victor Byaundaombe achieved victory in the men's triple jump with a distance of 14.94 meters on his fifth attempt, marking his first individual conference championship. Junior Lindsey Miller defended her title in the women's 100m, setting a personal best time of 11.54 seconds, which ranks fifth in Illinois State history.

Junior Rob Pulliam claimed his first MVC individual title in the men's high jump with a clearance of 2.02 meters. Freshman Trey Thomas joined him on the podium with a third-place finish after clearing 1.99 meters.

Senior Kiley Sanders achieved her highest career finish at an MVC title meet by placing second in the heptathlon with a personal best score of 4923 points, moving her to tenth place in Illinois State history for this event.

In the men's decathlon, Senior Ariel Atias earned his eighth career MVC medal with a runner-up finish, scoring 6945 points. Sophomore Ryan Schaefer finished fourth with a personal best of 6652 points, placing him seventh all-time in Redbird history for the decathlon.

Sophomore Ava Lawless secured her second career MVC medal by finishing second in the women's triple jump with a mark of 12.21 meters, ranking tenth in Redbird history.

Junior Jake Welch placed second in the men's 400m with a time of 46.82 seconds, improving his top-10 mark set earlier this season and moving to eighth place in program history.

Senior Kevyere Mack earned his first career MVC medal by finishing second in the men's 110m hurdles with a time of 14.20 seconds.

In women's hurdles events, Junior Erin Starks and Senior Corrina Courser took second and third places respectively in the 100m hurdles, recording times of 13.51 and 13.62 seconds.

Junior Enyinnaya Nwagwu Jr. finished second in the men's 200m with a time of 20.82 seconds, while Junior Erin Starks placed third on the women's side with a time of 23.86 seconds.

Both men’s and women’s teams secured runner-up finishes in their respective 4x100m relays; men clocked at 39.91 seconds—the second-fastest time recorded by Illinois State—and women finished at 44.83 seconds—the third-fastest mark for Redbirds.

The Redbirds will now await announcements regarding which athletes will advance to represent Illinois State at College Station, Texas for the NCAA Division West First Round starting May 28th.